Random Thoughts
by shadow282
Summary: Ilia's first date has an unexpected ending, Ruby secretly reads Weiss' diary, Neo and Yang find a unique way to resolve their differences, the truth behind Summer's death is revealed, Ruby is betrayed by her sister, and other short stories.
1. Yoga Pants

**This is a collection of the stuff I've written for the various things over at r/RWBY. It's a great community over there, so if you're a regular reader/writer of fan fiction I suggest you check it out. The weekly events happen every Wednesday, and Moncon starts near the beginning of the month.**

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 **Prompt: Blake introduces Kali to a new invention from Vale: Yoga Pants**

Kali walked into her daughter's dorm room to find her, predictably, lying on her bed reading a book. "Sweetie, there's something I need to talk to you about." She said. Something about her tone must have alarmed Blake because she quickly dropped the book and swung down off the bed.

"Of course Mom. What is it?"

Kali hesitated for a second. This wasn't a conversation she ever thought she would need to have with her daughter when she had decided to come visit her at school, and she wanted to make sure she brought it up in the best possible way. "Well, Blake, it's about the people here at Beacon."

"What about them?" She asked, clearly confused.

Kali decided her best tactic was to just be as direct as possible. "Blake, you're smart and beautiful and talented and likable-"

"I'm sensing a "but" coming up." Blake cut in to say.

Kali nodded. "But, well, Sun was one thing. You're both Faunus, both fighters, he clearly respects you. And Yang is your partner and friend. She trusts you, and that goes a long way."

"Okay, I guess. What's your point?" Blake asked, her tone growing exasperated.

"My point is that most of the students here spend half their time staring at you, Blake! And I know you can hear what they're saying the same as I can!" Kali said, pointing to both of their cat ears. She softened her voice. "All I'm saying is that it's a little weird. What's going on?"

Blake's face had been growing more red with every word she said, and by the time Kali had finished her daughter was flushed red and staring at the floor. "I don't know." She said in a quiet voice. "It started happening last month."

"Did anything change last month?"

"Not really, no!" Blake exclaimed. Then a thoughtful expression came onto her face, and she said, "Well, maybe one thing. But it really isn't a big deal. I just changed my wardrobe slightly."

"How?"

"Well, these things called yoga pants have become really popular in Vale. They're great to work out in so I've been wearing them for my morning routine. I don't really see how that could possibly be related though."

Kali agreed with her daughter, but since Blake said nothing else had changed it wasn't like she had much else to go on. "Why don't you go show me these new pants of yours?" Blake nodded, went into her dresser for a second, and disappeared into the bathroom. It only took a minute for her to walk back in, and as soon as she saw her daughter Kali knew what had happened.

"You said you're doing your routine in these every morning?"

"Yep! You know me, bright and early I'm outside stretching for the day's activities."

"By yourself?" Kali asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Well, not recently. There have been more and more people out there every morning too." Blake shrugged her shoulders. "It's nice to see more people out taking care of themselves."

Kali stood still for a second wondering how she could have raised such an oblivious daughter. And wondering the best way to explain to her daughter that her new fashion style perfectly accentuated her quite attractive ass. She stood still for a few minutes, at a complete and utter loss for words, before an idea of how to stop this popped into her head. She turned without a word and marched out the door to find her husband. She found him eating in the cafeteria and sat down beside him.

"Blake asked us if we wanted to join her morning workout tomorrow. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

"Of course not, if that's what Blake wants." He responded.

"Good." Kali gave him an innocent smile. "You know, I have a _great_ feeling about tomorrow."


	2. Yoga Pants 2

**This is one of the few times that any story here is going to be anything other than a one-shot, and it's for something that really didn't need one. Still, I hope you enjoy Yoga Pants Part 2.**

 **Prompt: Write a sequel to a previous prompt**

Ozpin sat staring at the six individuals standing in front of him and, for the first time in hundreds of years, started seriously reconsidering his life choices. The Huntsman academies had _seemed_ like a good idea, but clearly they were somehow fundamentally flawed. It was the only explanation for what had happened. But he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out how it had led to this.

Blake stood right in front of him, wearing pants that were at least three sizes too big for her and looking decidedly embarrassed. Yang stood beside her, grinning an almost maniacal grin. She had several claw marks on her clothes and skin and was connected to Blake by a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs. The Belladonnas stood directly behind their daughter. Ghira had cuts and bruises all over his body and was glaring at Yang with a look of pure anger. He seemed restrained less by the police handcuffs on his hands than by his wife gripping his arm. Kali looked like she was standing there with a stern expression, but Ozpin had thousands of years of experience reading people. The amusement hiding behind her eyes showed how she really felt about the whole situation. Sun stood to the side. Of everyone here, he looked the most miserable. He had scorch marks covering the left side of his body, and half of his hair was completely burned off.

Behind them all stood Ruby. She had a look of pure wonder on her face, like she had just come to the most incredible revelation, and her eyes were fixed directly on Blake's butt. As far as Ozpin could tell, she had neither blinked nor moved her eyes since the group was marched into his office by the very disgruntled Glynda standing next to him.

Ozpin sighed. He wasn't paid enough to deal with this. But he had no choice, so he picked the person who seemed to be the center of everything. "Our school grounds are all torn up. Several different students and teachers are lying in bed injured. And Glynda finds the lot of you in the middle of it all in this state. Miss Belladonna, why don't you explain what exactly happened?"

"I don't know!" She yelled. "Ask my dad what happened!"

"Okay, _Mr. Belladonna_ , what happened?"

"What happened was I went to join my daughter's workout routine, and I see half of your school ogling my daughter while she was wearing those clearly sinister Vale pants! And these two were the worst, standing right behind her staring!"

Sun's exclamation of "I would never do that, I respect your daughter too much!" came at the same time as Yang's shrug of "Well yeah, she's hot." Ghira started to take an angry step towards Yang, but Kali squeezed down on his arm and he stopped.

"He means yoga pants." Kali clarified.

Ozpin was baffled. When he had first noticed yoga pants becoming popular he thought nothing of it. Fashion changed all the time. He certainly never imagined it could lead to the destruction of the school grounds. "What happened next?" He asked.

Yang cut Ghira off before he could answer. "What happened next was that he grabbed Sun and I and threw us backwards on top of each other. With his claws out. Into my hair." Well, at least that was one mystery cleared up. Ozpin felt bad that the young man's injury had been completely not of his own doing. He definitely didn't have to stifle a laugh that Sun had gotten all burned up.

"That was an accident." Ghira said. "I simply wanted to get my daughter to change into something more appropriate. Like what she's wearing now."

"Which, obviously, I couldn't let happen. Blake should be able to wear whatever she wants." Yang's eyes started glowing red. "Plus, he ripped out my _hair_! So yeah, maybe I got into a little fight with him, and maybe there was a little collateral damage, but that's hardly my fault!"

That explained almost everything, but there was one thing still missing. "Where did the handcuffs come in?"

Blake answered this time. "Yang didn't want me to change, so she decided handcuffing herself to me would stop that from happening." Yang was now staring at the ground, seemingly in embarrassment. "It wasn't really her best plan. I didn't need my arm to change my pants." Judging from the sly smile that he could barely see on her downturned face, Ozpin realized that Yang had accomplished exactly what she had wanted when she handcuffed herself to Blake, even though nobody else seemed to have noticed it.

"But Ghira still looked angry, so I decided to handcuff him to make sure the fight ended. Junior detectives always carry a pair." Sun said. That answer raised a question Ozpin hadn't even thought about. "Miss Xiao Long, why do _you_ have handcuffs?"

Yang's maniacal grin returned to her. "Let's just say this isn't the first time Blakey has put these on."

"Yang!" Blake slapped her partner's arm and shouted as her parents eyes grew wide. Ghira looked ready to say something again before Ozpin decided changing the subject was the best way to avoid another argument.

"And Ruby, what about you?" Ozpin asked the final member of the group. At his words, Ruby jumped a little as she seemed to notice for the first time that other people were in the office with her. She flushed as red as her cloak, but she also still hadn't blinked or moved her eyes.

"You know how sometimes, when there's a quiet sound in a room, you don't notice it until someone else points it out, but then once they do you can't get it out of your head? Well, I went to workout with Blake like I do every morning, but then everyone started yelling about her pants, so I looked at them and it's, like, wow! And then some less important things happened, but I'm quick enough that it didn't really affect me. There was something _much_ more interesting to look at." She finished. As Ruby had kept talking, the Belladonnas and Sun had both gradually adopted guilty looks while Blake looked even more embarrassed and a look of pride grew on Yang's face. When she finished Yang turned and gave her a wink and a thumbs up.

Ozpin realized Ruby had a different problem that should be dealt with another day. Preferably by someone who wasn't him. He looked at Glynda and nodded at her. Glynda walked behind Ruby, grabbed her by the hood, and dragged her towards the elevator. "But, butt, so pretty..." Ruby said as the elevator doors closed behind them.

"Now then, we should discuss your punishments. You're going to go out there and repair all the damage you did to the school. By hand." A chorus of complaints and refusals sprang up from them, but Ozpin silenced them with a wave of his hand. "If you don't, I'm going to have to expel our two young women here. Do you want that?" They all shook their heads. "Excellent. It's going to take a while, so you should start right away." They all grumbled about it, but they also all started shuffling towards the elevator.

As they started to walk out, Ozpin said, "And Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"No more yoga pants!"


	3. Ruby Arc

**Prompt: Jaune and Pyrrha's future daughter travels to the past and tries to make everyone better in whichever way possible.**

Like most things with Aunt Nora, it went from suggestion to planning to execution so quickly that Ruby didn't really have time to think about it until the point of no return was twenty miles behind them. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ruby asked, two hours after the answer would have been useful.

"Of course. Have I ever steered you wrong, Ru?"

"Yes. Dozens of times!"

"Okay, but have I done it lately?"

"You did it two months ago. I haven't seen Midnight since."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Ruby. This can't go wrong because it can't possibly work." Mrs. Schnee said from behind her. "Now, if you'll come over here, we can get this over quickly. I have significantly less insane things I need to do today."

Ruby nodded, walked over to Mrs. Schnee, and activated her semblance. Mrs. Schnee twisted her wrist and black glyphs appeared all around Ruby. They started spinning faster and faster, and Ruby began feeling like her entire body was being slowly stretched apart. The feelings only intensified until the black glyphs around her exploded into white light and she snapped back to normal.

She was momentarily blinded, but when her eyesight returned she felt like she could barely breath. She was standing in the exact same room as a few seconds ago, except the decorations and beds were completely different. She heard footsteps approaching the door and keys being put into the lock. She panicked and rabbited into the closet right before the door to the room opened and several people walked in.

"I'm just saying, it would have been better with more explosions. Maybe a Grimm invasion or a massive ninja robot attack." Ruby recognized the voice as Aunt Nora, but she sounded younger than Ruby.

"Nora, it was a romantic comedy." Said a voice that was clearly a younger Uncle Ren.

"Exactly! What would be funnier than a robot demolishing the city?"

"Not really the tone of the movie." The voice made Ruby gasp. That was unmistakably her dad. "Personally I loved it. Nice suggestion."

"Thanks Jaune. I enjoyed it too." Very clearly Mom's voice.

"Meh. It would have been better if they expressed their love without the drama. Don't you hate it when someone keeps their love a secret, Pyrrha?" Nora said.

She heard a nervous laugh from her mother. "Uh, yeah, that's the worst." Ruby grasped onto that little detail for all it was worth. If her parents weren't dating, it must still be sometime during their first year. Which meant that one of Aunt Nora's crazy ideas had actually worked. The potential implications of her current situation hit her like a truck, and she grabbed the sides of the closet to brace herself. And, when she did, her arm hit a shelf, and something fell to the floor with the sound of shattering glass.

"Is someone in the closet?" Her dad asked.

"Ooohhhh, I bet it's a ghost! Let's get it!" Ruby heard someone skipping towards the closet and she panicked. She had absolutely no idea what might happen if they caught her hiding in here. She closed her eyes and desperately wished she was back in her room.

"Ruby, what happened? Did it work?" Mrs. Schnee asked her. Ruby opened her eyes and saw that she was standing in the exact same place she had started. Ruby, too stunned to speak, simply nodded.

"Told you it would work! I'm a genius!" Aunt Nora yelled.

"How about we hear what happened before saying that? Ruby, if you would." Ruby took a deep breath to calm herself and told them exactly what happened.

"Oh, so you were the closet ghost? I thought we killed it with that exorcism we did!"

"Setting fire to the closet was _not_ an exorcism!" Mrs. Schnee yelled. Her tone made it clear this was a topic that came up fairly frequently. Which, since Ruby had never heard it before, didn't make a lot of sense.

"Wait, have you told me about this before?" Ruby questioned.

"Yes, because it's Nora's suggestion anytime something weird happens." Mrs. Schnee said right before a look of understanding crossed her face. "It never happened for you. Going back changed things."

"Hah! A complete success! Team Nora one, Time zero."

"We can't just play around with time like that! We have no idea what could happen. We could lose the war with Salem, we could all die, Ruby might stop herself from existing!" Mrs. Schnee chastised. She had a fair point. There was no telling what could go wrong if they weren't careful.

"Sure, if we change major things. But minor things won't make that much difference! Aren't there small things you wish we could change?" Aunt Nora replied.

"Well, yeah, a few things."

"Great. All we need is for Ru to go back and carefully change some things. Starting now." Aunt Nora started rattling off things to change, and they all got to work.

 _"The fire alarm ran out of batteries and started going off in the middle of the night. It took an hour of constant beeping to find a replacement." Aunt Nora said._

A small and easily fulfilled request. It took less than a minute to replace the battery, and Ruby felt incredibly good about herself. A tiny act of kindness that wouldn't affect much beyond giving her parents a few more hours of sleep.

 _"Ruby's bed fell onto mine and shattered both of them. We needed to sleep on the floor for a week, and I never stopped mentioning it until, well, you know." Mrs. Schnee said._

Two extra ropes added around the bed fixed that potential problem.

 _"The Breach damaged Ruby's favorite bakery, and she ran out of smiley face cookies three months before it reopened."_

A short trip to the bakery and a quick climb to get to her cookie stash later, and Miss Rose would never have to run out of smiley goodness.

 _"Your dad wasn't used to the hard beds, and he still complains about how it messed up his back sometimes."_

A mattress pad under the box spring took care of it before it became a problem. That one she was particularly happy to deal with. It came up a lot more than one would think from a veteran Huntsman.

 _"The curtains touched the floor, and a nameless person who definitely wasn't at fault may have been playing with fire dust and burned them down."_

A pair of scissors were fixing the issue, but they were stubbornly refusing to be easily cut. She was just beginning to wonder if she should come back with her sword when the door opened, and her parents' team walked in. Before she could say anything, she was slammed into the wall by her mom's semblance.

"Who are you and wh-" the words died on her mom's lips as she got a full look at Ruby, and her face fell into confusion. Looking at her dad, he was wearing the exact same expression.

"Why, uh, why do you look like me?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly. Ruby was always told she looked remarkably similar to her mother as a teenager but staring at her a few feet away drove that home more than any picture. Ruby realized she wasn't getting out of this without some kind of answer, but she also couldn't tell them everything. Not without potentially ruinous consequences.

"Well, I'm your daughter. From the future."

"My dd-daughter?" She asked, clearly stunned.

"Yep! I'm Ru-" she said before stopping herself. She suddenly realized she couldn't tell them her name. Not without explaining why she had it, and that could go terribly wrong. "I'm Joan. Joan Arc." Okay, so maybe she wasn't the best at improvisation. Fortunately, none of them seemed to notice her slip. They were more focused on her last name.

"Arc? You mean, like, me Arc? Like Pyrrha and me Arc?" Her dad spoke for the first time as her mom started blushing beside him. Uncle Ren's face remained, as always, passive but Aunt Nora's lit up in a manic grin

Well, clearly she should have stuck with first name only, but it was way too late now. She would have to hope it didn't change too much. "Uh, yeah. Surprise?"

Her dad went over and collapsed onto his bed. "Yeah, that's one way to put it."

"If that's true, how are you here? Why are you here?" Uncle Ren questioned.

"Mrs. Schnee's time dilation glyphs and my semblance."

"Which is?"

"I can charge up other people's semblances while I'm near them. Apparently time dilation plus supercharger equals time travel."

"That's cool." Her dad said from the bed.

"Sometimes." She acknowledged. Of course, other times it led to Aunt Nora levitating in the air shooting lightning out of her hands, but she felt mentioning that was probably not the best idea.

"That's the how, what's the why?" Uncle Ren asked.

"Well, we thought we could help make things better."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Her mom asked.

"Big stuff, sure. Little stuff is fine, though. Probably."

A look of realization appeared on her dad's face. "You're the one who made my bed softer! I was wondering about that."

"And presumably you put those extra ropes on Ruby's bed." Her mom said. Ruby nodded.

A contemplative look suddenly came to her dad's face. "If you are changing small things, what about messages from our future selves? Surely there's some things we'd like to tell ourselves."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea. That's something that could change lot."

"Only if the messages are too specific, which I'm sure they won't be. Don't you trust future-us's judgement?"

"Uh, I guess." She answered.

"Great! I'll go grab RWBY and you can go home and get messages for us all." Ruby still wasn't sure this was a great idea, but if it might be helpful then she would try it. She willed herself home, called everyone, and, after explaining the whole time travel thing, got messages for their past selves. When Mrs. Schnee sent her back to the past, the room was filled up with the two teams. Someone had clearly filled in RWBY because the room, besides a few brief gasps at seeing her, remained silent.

She relayed each of the messages to them all in turn. She had made sure none of them were too specific, but the entire room was still rapt anyway. Once she was finished, everyone stood with a contemplative look on their face.

"What about me? What was my message?" When she heard that, Ruby's mind froze. She had completely forgotten about Ruby Rose. She mentally kicked herself for being so stupid. How could she possibly have forgotten about her namesake? She couldn't tell her "Nothing, because you died a long time ago.", right? Or maybe she could. Maybe if Miss Rose was warned, things would turn out for the better. Or maybe they would be catastrophically worse. There was no real way to know.

Logically, she shouldn't do anything to massively change the timeline. Her world might not be perfect, but they had survived. They were rebuilding. But her heart was telling her something else. It was telling her that Ruby Rose deserved the chance for something better. It might not be the smart thing to do, but it was the right thing to do.

"You asked it to be private. Let's go into your room". Miss Rose nodded and followed her into the other dorm room. "You need to know something important. There's a war going on with Salem, the queen of the Grimm. At her directions, Cinder Fall, the White Fang, hacked Atlas military, and Grimm attack Beacon." It was clear from Miss Rose's expression that she was bursting with questions, but Ruby raised her hand to stop her. "Just listen, okay?" Ruby waited for her to nod before continuing. "Beacon falls, but you stop the Grimm and Cinder from taking over Vale. And you jump in front of an arrow meant for my mom and die in her arms. My name is actually Ruby Arc. I'm named for the hero who willingly sacrificed herself for her friend."

"What happens next?" For the first time, Miss Rose's voice came out cold and serious. Understandable when talking about her future death, but hearing that voice coming from someone like Miss Rose was jarring.

"Salem loses eventually, but at high cost. Atlas, Menagerie, Haven are all devastated. So many people died that recovery has been hard. It took almost a decade to reclaim Haven, and Beacon was only rebuilt a few years ago. Atlas and Menagerie are still so overrun with Grimm we might never take them back."

"But we did win, right?" Ruby nodded. "Then you shouldn't have told me. If I let it happen, we win but at a terrible price. If I change something, we might lose. What am I supposed to do with that?"

"I'm not sure, but you deserved to know. My parents trusted you to always do the right thing. You'll do it again." Miss Rose didn't answer; she simply stood there, a contemplative look on her face. Ruby closed her eyes, hoped she hadn't made a terrible mistake, and willed herself back to the present.

When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by Teams WBY and JNPR. She very clearly interrupted them in the middle of a party. Looking around, they were the same age as when she left. She was definitely back in her present.

"Joan? We haven't seen you in forever! Why did you come back here?" Her dad asked. It took her a few baffling seconds to process the question. Why would her dad think she was coming back when she was in the present? Then it clicked. Dad didn't think she could be from now because she hadn't been born. Her final warning to Miss Rose somehow changed her existence. She felt a really weird itch working its way up her left foot, but she ignored it.

"She didn't come back, Jaune. This is where she's from." Ruby recognized the voice and turned to see Miss Rose coming through the door. She was a few decades older, but it was unmistakably her. She smiled, sad and sweet, and Ruby felt relieved that someone else figured out exactly what happened. The itch intensified, and Ruby looked down to see that her leg was slowly dissolving into golden light. Once she saw that, she knew she was dying. Whatever cosmic entity that controlled Time was correcting the mistake that was her existence.

Everyone else noticed it at about the same time, and a cacophony of alarm and confusion came from all around her. From everyone except Miss Rose, that is. She just stood there, the same sad smile on her face. "We stopped Cinder's attack before Beacon fell, and that helped us rally the four kingdoms together. Our combined forces beat Salem without too much destruction. The five kingdoms, now that Menagerie has been recognized, are healthy and prospering. All thanks to you."

"I can't believe it worked!" Ruby yelled. She knew the fact that her hands were currently dissolving should probably terrify her, but she was too ecstatic about everything to really concern herself.

"What worked?" Her mom asked. The terror Ruby should probably feel for herself was etched into her face.

"I made everything better." She said, the wonderment shining through her voice. And, with those last words echoing around the room, Ruby Arc died.


	4. Detective Nikos

**Prompt: Junior Detective Pyrrha Nikos receives her hardest case yet: catching Jaune Arc.**

Pyrrha walked into the jewelry shop and assessed the damage. The shopkeeper, while clearly distraught, was unharmed. One glass display case was shattered, but it looked like only a few pieces of jewelry were missing. She felt her heart begin to race as she walked towards the shopkeeper. There was only one person who did this type of robbery in Beacon. She was about to get another clue towards catching Vale's most notorious thief.

"Hello, sir. My name is Detective Nikos. I'd appreciate it if you could walk me through what happened." She pulled out her trusty notebook and started writing down his statement.

"A blonde man carrying a sword walked into my store right before closing. He walked over to this case, used his sword to smash the glass, grabbed a few items, and walked out the door without a word."

"Blonde with sword and shield, never said anything, gotcha." She replied. "Okay, that's good. When he left, did you see where he went? Did you notice if he got into a car?"

"He walked straight down the street here until he was out of sight. I didn't see him get into anything or talk to anyone."

"Okay, thanks for your time. We're done for tonight, but we might follow up with you later if any more questions come up."

"You better catch him!" The shopkeeper called as she walked away.

"Oh, I will." She said. She wasn't going to let Jaune Arc get away from her this time. She knew this robbery was planned to send some kind of message; that was the basis of all his crimes. Everything he did was perfectly calculated. Right now, though, she didn't have a clue what message he left. Maybe her partner would have some ideas.

/

"Well I've got no idea." Ruby complained. "The thefts just don't make sense. I get the Dust shop and the jewelry store, but robbing a restaurant? An armed robbery to steal five candles from a store? Who does that?"

"They must mean something. All of his thefts are meant to leave clues for us."

"You mean clues for you." Pyrrha nodded at her partner to acknowledge her point. She walked up to the map they had stapled on a board and grabbed the marker at its base.

"Let's go over everything again. We have the three thefts here." She pointed to each of the three marked circles on the map. "If we add in the fourth one, what do we get?" She put a circle around the latest crime scene.

Ruby took a minute to examine it before making a noise of exasperation. "I don't know, a rectangle?"

"Maybe. Or," she drew two lines connecting the robbery locations, "an X."

"That's a little thin."

"It's also his MO. Leaving little clues, daring us to catch him. It's not like we have a ton of leads anyway. There's no harm in checking it out."

"Fine, but tomorrow." Pyrrha started to raise an objection, but Ruby cut her off. "I need to go to Weiss' concert tonight. She'll freeze me into a Rubysicle if I miss her Vale debut. If something is there, it'll still be there tomorrow."

"Okay. We'll wait and go over there first thing in the morning. You have fun tonight." Pyrrha lied. She waited for Ruby to leave before grabbing her keys and setting off for the marked location. There was no way she could possibly wait until tomorrow to check this out. She felt terrible about lying to her partner, but Ruby would understand.

It didn't take her long to walk to her destination, and once she got there she wandered around aimlessly. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she knew it was here somewhere. She searched for almost an hour before she found something. She was staring at a street sign when it dawned on her. There was nothing suspicious on the sign; it simply marked the intersection as Spring Avenue and Lilac Street. Completely unremarkable, except for the fact that the stolen candles were from the Scents of Spring brand. Specifically, the lilac aroma candles.

She felt her heart start pounding as she walked up to the apartment building on the street. Once she reached the door and found it unlocked, any doubts about her hunch disappeared. This was exactly what he wanted her to find. She moved to the stairwell and started running up the steps. She went until she got to the fourth floor before slowing down and cautiously creeping up the remaining stairs. The door at the top clearly lead to the roof, and she slowly opened it to find Jaune standing in front of it waiting for her.

"You're under arrest for armed robbery!" She called out.

"Actually, I led you here to arrest you." He said back. "Everything I have taken pales in comparison to what you have stolen from me. No worldly possessions can come close to the value of my heart." He said melodramatically.

She couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter. "You're way too cheesy, Arc." She said as she walked towards him.

He gave a sheepish grin back at her. "Yeah, but that's why you love me." He walked to meet her, and as soon as they were close they met in a passionate kiss. Pyrrha felt herself melt into his arms as she enjoyed the strength and comfort she missed for weeks.

He wasn't entirely wrong. She did love his cheesiness. Of course, the kissing certainly didn't hurt. It went on for what felt like a blissful eternity before they pulled away. She looked around the roof for the first time and saw the table set for two overlooking the street. Her stomach grumbled as she finally noticed the delicious smell permeating the roof.

Jaune noticed her sudden interest and smiled at her. "You came right on time. I just finished dinner, and I made your favorite." He walked over to the table and uncovered the plates to reveal a plate of steaming rice and perfectly cooked salmon. She felt her mouth begin to water looking at it.

"You know, most people go to a grocery store to buy dinner ingredients." She said as she sat down.

Jaune laughed. "Where's the fun in that?" She looked over to give him her most disappointed glare, and he raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, I'll go back and pay for everything I took. For you." She nodded her approval and started devouring her dinner. It didn't take long; Jaune was a master chef, and she could never stop herself from tearing through his food. Once she finished, she finally saw the candles burning on the table.

"A little ridiculous, don't you think?" She asked.

"Maybe, but I knew you could get it, and I wanted to give you a challenge. You have no idea how hard it was to find a brand of candle that matched up to a street name. I was almost ready to bribe an official to change a street when I stumbled upon this apartment. It was worth it though. The view is perfect for my next few surprises."

"Oh?" She questioned. His only response was to gesture to the right side of the building. She heard a hissing noise before a series of fireworks started lighting up the sky. Pyrrha thought they would stop after the first volley, but after a few minutes they were still going. As she watched the spectacle, a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Okay, so this is the Dust store, and dinner was the candles and restaurant. What was the jewelry shop?"

"This." He said. She felt him take hold of her hand, and she felt a ring being pushed into her finger. When she looked down and saw the diamond ring her heart leapt into her throat. "Pyrrha Nikos, will you marry me?"

The joy she felt surging through her brought tears to her eyes. "Yes, yes!" She tackled him with another kiss, and suddenly nothing else in the world mattered to them. She was with the man she loved, forever, and she couldn't be happier.


	5. The Roommate

**Characters: Team RWBY**

 **Theme: New Beginnings**

"What if everyone hates me?"

"College is a big place, Rubes. _Everyone_ can't possibly hate you."

"Okay, but what if my roommate hates me?"

"My roommate hated me when I got there. I made other friends."

"Yang, you've been dating Blake since your second semester."

"Exactly! I'm way too charming to hate for long. And so are you! Although you're more adorable than charming." Yang said as she reached over and ruffled her hair. Ruby had to use both her hands to push Yang away.

"I'm being serious here, Yang!"

"So am I, Ruby. I know it's scary to think about being away. I was scared too. But it turned out great for me, and I know it'll be great for you. Now come here." Yang walked forward and wrapped Ruby in her arms. "I love you, okay? Dad and I are both only a phone call away. Now you need to go, Dad is waiting at the car." Ruby nodded, grabbed her last bag from the floor, and walked outside to the car. She couldn't stop herself from staring at her house as they drove away. Her family had lived here her entire life. Tomorrow would be the first day she called anywhere else home.

Beacon was less than an hour away from her home. As they drove, she tried to sort through the emotions running through her. She knew she was supposed to feel excited. That's what everyone said, right? College was an exciting new chapter in her life. And she was excited. But the nervousness she felt seemed so much stronger than her excitement. Nobody ever mentioned that part to her.

They soon reached the Beacon campus and headed towards her dorm. The entire place was beautiful, with soaring buildings and pristine lawns. There were groups of students walking everywhere, talking and laughing with each other. Ruby felt her nervousness flair up even more. What if she never found any friends like that? Nobody else seemed to be walking alone. Would she be the one freak who never made any friends?

Her dad parked the car and snapped her out of her thoughts. "Ready Ruby? You to over and check in, I'll start unloading the car." She nodded, not entirely sure she could speak without betraying the butterflies in her stomach. She got out of the car and walked over to the young woman holding a clipboard whose name tag identified her as Velvet.

"Welcome to Beacon. Can I have your name and floor, please?" Velvet asked. She sounded genuinely excited to be here, and Ruby felt her nerves begin to go down. If Velvet was typical of the students here, maybe she was worried for nothing.

"Ruby Rose, third floor." She replied.

"Okay, let me see. You're in room 324, and it looks like your roommate Weiss has already arrived." If Ruby hadn't been looking straight at her, she wouldn't have thought anything was wrong. Velvet's voice had kept that same chipper tone the entire time, but as soon as she had read Weiss' name her eyes had filled with something that looked a lot like pity. Her nerves instantly came back. That wasn't a great sign. "You can move your stuff in as soon as you're ready. There's a floor meeting at eight tonight that you need to attend. Good luck!" Velvet gave a nervous cough. "Uh, I mean, have fun at Beacon!" At this point, Ruby was growing terrified. If one of the people helping here thought her roommate was terrible, she must have been really bad. She tried to take deep breaths as she walked back to her father.

By the time Ruby returned, the car had been unloaded. There wasn't much, so together the two got everything on the first trip. Her father took the elevator, but Ruby wanted to stretch her legs and opted for the stairs. Ruby's apprehension grew each step as she walked up to her floor. Her room was halfway down the first hallway, and when she reached it the door was propped open. She couldn't stop herself from skipping on the way into the room. It was a nervous habit from childhood that she had never managed to break.

She skipped into the room and saw her roommate for the first time. Weiss had long white hair with blue eyes and was dressed in an expensive white dress that, while gorgeous, didn't seem practical for moving into a dorm. When Weiss saw her, the look she gave Ruby made her feel like she was being thoroughly examined. Ruby became acutely aware for the first time that her clothes didn't exactly look great. Her favorite red hoodie and jeans were comfortable, but they were also old and heavily used. Compared to Weiss' clothes, she might as well be dressed in rags.

Weiss seemed to make a judgement, and she scoffed at her. Ruby had never, in her life, been scoffed at by a person. It was both weird and incredibly unpleasant. She shook it off, tried to convince herself that she was overreacting, and went to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Ru-" was as far as she got before Weiss cut her off.

"Please tell me you're not my roommate. You're in the wrong room, right? You seem like the type to get easily confused."

Ruby forced a smile on her face. This wasn't going great, but maybe she could salvage it. She kept a happy tone in her voice and said "Nope! Room 324. We're roomies, Weiss."

"No, we're not. Look at you. Your clothes, your hair, your manners! All completely unacceptable." Ruby dropped her smile. Weiss had met her a few seconds ago; why did she think she could judge her like that? "I'm going to get this fixed, right now! You keep your stuff out of here!" Weiss stormed right past her and ran out the door.

That couldn't possibly have gone worse. She had been here for a few minutes, and she had already driven her roommate away at the sheer sight of her. She wondered if anyone had possibly had a worse first day than her. The only thing that kept her from crying was the knowledge that her dad would be reaching the room soon.

Once he arrived with all of her stuff, she tried to shake it off and unpack, but she couldn't stop her heart from pounding every time she heard footsteps in the hall. She rushed enough that she got everything unpacked and said goodbye to her dad before Weiss returned. She decided that maybe going for a walk around her dorm and trying to meet other people would help. As she walked out the room, she wondered if spending the least possible amount of time there would be a regular thing this year.

By the time the day ended, Ruby was feeling much better about everything. Her next meetings with people had gone much better, and there were already several people who she could see becoming her close also learned quite a bit more about her roommate. Weiss was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Company, one of the biggest companies in the world. It explained exactly where she got that haughty attitude, although knowing that didn't make it any better.

Ruby had gotten dinner and then had attended the floor meeting with her potential new friends. The rules boiled down to "go to class", "be respectful", and "don't break anything". Simple enough, really. Ruby had noticed that Weiss had spent the meeting standing apart from everyone else. She probably thought all these rules were beneath someone like her.

After the meeting, she went for a walk around campus before returning to her room. As she opened the door, she felt a sudden surge of confidence. Sure, the first meeting hadn't gone great, but that didn't mean everything was lost. She would go in there and try again. This time would be different.

She walked in and saw that Weiss was sitting on her bed, reading a book. "Hey Weiss. How was your day?" She asked as she closed the door. A nice, simple, standard question. Best way to start off on a new foot.

Or it would have been, if Weiss had answered. Instead she looked at Ruby, long enough to ensure Ruby knew she had heard the question, then went back to her book without a word. Ruby decided that was fine. If that's how Weiss wanted it, then there was nothing she could do to change it. Nobody could say she hadn't made an effort. She changed and tried to go to sleep.

An hour later, Weiss was still reading, and Ruby had barely been able to close her eyes. She had to know what it was about her that Weiss had instantly disliked. "Why won't you even try to be friends with me? What did I do wrong?" Ruby asked. She had tried to keep her tone neutral, but she knew some of the hurt she was feeling had leaked through anyway. Weiss sat there and didn't respond again, and Ruby was half sure she wasn't going to say anything until Weiss turned to her.

"Look around the room." Weiss said. Ruby looked and immediately saw what she meant. Weiss' half of the room was immaculate. Everything was put away in a proper place. Ruby's was much more haphazard. Her desk was a mess of everything she had dumped on it, clothes were half sticking out of drawers, and she had shoved several things half under her bed. Part of it was that she had been in such a hurry, but this was also mostly what Ruby's room had always looked like. She liked having things this way. Weiss clearly didn't.

"You're as unorganized and messy as a child. You don't seem to care about your appearance or your actions. It's clear we have nothing in common, Ruby. I'm not trying to be friends with you because I don't _want_ to be friends with you. But, as was repeatedly made clear to me, we're stuck together for the year. So you leave me alone, I leave you alone, and then at the end of the year we'll never have to see each other again."

Ruby didn't respond, but instead turned over and faced the wall. She didn't think she could have said anything without crying, and she didn't want to give Weiss that satisfaction.

/

"So Rubes, how's it going?" Yang asked. She was finally back at school, and she was curled up in her room with Blake on video chat.

"It's good. I've made a bunch of cool friends, and classes are going great!" Ruby answered. She was, all things considered, doing fantastic. In all except one area, anyway.

"And how is Weiss doing?" Blake asked.

"Same as ever. I only see her when I go to sleep or if I have an early class. I avoid my room at every other time." In truth, she hadn't had a single conversation in the month since they had gotten here. Their only interaction was Weiss' judgmental looks. She was trying to ignore it, but she had to admit it was bothering her. "It's fine. She made it clear she didn't want to be friendly. I'm okay with that."

Yang, however, knew her too well to be fooled. "No, you aren't."

"Maybe, but there's not anything I can do about it, so what does it matter?"

"Well, you could do what Yang did to me." Blake said.

Ruby had never heard this story. Yang had never gone into details on how she had made friends with Blake. "What did you do?"

Yang looked down, clearly embarrassed. It took her a second to say anything. "Well, I decided I couldn't take the hostility anymore. So one day I asked her if she wanted to grab dinner together."

"That's it?" Ruby asked incredulously. "She just accepted?"

"Nope. I told her to shut up and leave me alone." Blake answered.

"Yep. That was lots of fun. So I waited a few days, and then I asked her again. When she refused, I asked her again a few days later. And I kept doing it. I never pushed her, never tried to force her to do anything. I simply made sure she knew that the invitation was always open. That if she ever wanted to be friends, I was there."

"How long did it take?" Ruby asked.

"About a month." Blake responded. "She finally asked me when I was having a really bad day. I didn't particularly want to spend time with Yang, but I also didn't want to be alone. So I accepted and figured it would be a one-time thing."

"But once she spent a little time with me, she was hooked on the Xiao Long charm. She never stood a chance." Yang cut in. Blake cuffed her on the head in reply.

"You said maybe ten words the entire time. But, after, I had to admit it was better than eating alone. And then the next times I accepted, we started talking more and more. And before I knew it, she was my best friend." Her recollection gave Blake a sad smile. "It wasn't that I hated Yang, Ruby. When I came to college, I wasn't in a great place." Ruby knew that was an understatement. Blake didn't talk much about her past, but what she had told Ruby was pretty bad. "I didn't want to open up to anyone. I was afraid of getting hurt again. Maybe Weiss is the same."

Somehow Ruby doubted it. "No way. Ice Queen is too perfect to be afraid of anything. She made it clear she absolutely hates me the second we met."

"Sounds like you're making a few assumptions there, Ruby. Did you ever think about why Weiss went to Beacon?" Blake asked. Ruby shook her head. Honestly, the thought had never even occurred to her. "Don't get me wrong, Beacon is a good school. But a rich heiress can get into any college she wants. There are dozens of colleges that are better than Beacon. So why go there?"

That was actually a pretty good question. Ruby thought for a second but couldn't come up with anything. "No idea."

"Me neither, but it's something to consider. Or how about this, what does Weiss do?"

That one was easy enough to answer. "She goes to class, she studies, and she judges everyone around her."

Yang seemed to have caught on to Blake's point. "But does she ever go out? Do you ever see her with friends?"

Ruby thought about it and realized she had never seen Weiss talk with anyone. The few times she had seen her in the cafeteria she had been sitting by herself. "I guess not."

"So maybe the problem isn't you, Rubes. Maybe there's something more there. I think you'll feel much better if you try to find out."

The more she thought about it, the more she realized they both had a point. "Fine, I'll consider it."

"Good! Before you know it, you could have a new best friend. Maybe she'll even seduce you second semester like mine!"

"Excuse me!" Blake said, indignant. "I didn't seduce anybody!"

"Oh yeah? What do you call crawling into my bed wearing nothing but-"

"Hey, I'm still here you know!" Ruby called out before it got any further. Blake and Yang both turned to her and gave her a confused look like she was a strange animal they had never before encountered.

"Huh, she has a point." Yang said.

"Yep. She is, in fact, right here." Blake replied. Ruby sighed and hung up the phone. It actually wasn't a bad idea. Yang was right, she needed to try it.

When she got back to the room that night, Weiss sitting at her desk studying. Ruby took a deep breath to steady herself before saying "Hey Weiss, do you want to go to dinner tomorrow?" Weiss almost jumped out of her seat, clearly shocked Ruby had spoken to her. She turned around, and there was a clear look of confusion on her face, like she couldn't even comprehend the question, before her eyes narrowed. She turned back to her studying without a word.

Ruby shrugged, even though she knew Weiss couldn't see it. "Okay, just asking." She dropped her stuff and went to bed. Her attempt may have been a complete failure, she was happier for having tried something. Even if it never worked, it was still better than nothing.

/

It took her two months before Weiss agreed to eat with her. The complete silence of the first attempts slowly morphed into a dismissive "no", which soon changed to a more hesitant "no", and then finally one day became a very curt yes. When Weiss had finally agreed, Ruby had barely stopped herself from letting out a cheer.

Getting her to dinner, unfortunately, didn't change much. Ruby tried, but Weiss either ignored or quickly shut down any discussion she tried. And every time, her face showed more and more regret for agreeing to come. While Weiss hadn't yet walked out, Ruby wasn't convinced she would ever come back if she didn't make a breakthrough.

The idea came to her right before they had finished eating. There was one thing Ruby knew they had in common, one thing that she knew Weiss cared about. "What's your major, Weiss?" Ruby instantly knew she had picked the correct topic. It would be an exaggeration to say that Weiss' eyes lit up, but they definitely did show interest for the first time Ruby had ever seen.

"Business, obviously." Weiss said with the same condescending tone she always used. But, then, she quietly added "And creative writing." Almost as if she was ashamed of it.

Now that was interesting. Yesterday Ruby would have thought Weiss considered something like being an author beneath her. Clearly there was more depth to the woman than she had assumed.

"What about you?" Weiss asked. The immediate look of confusion in her face showed pretty clearly it had just slipped out on reflex, but Ruby decided to go with it before she could take it back.

"Electrical engineering." Weiss gave her a shocked look.

"Really? Engineering is so complex and structured."

"Unlike me, you mean." Weiss nodded, but this time she actually seemed a little guilty about it.

"I can be structured, but most things aren't worth it. My babies are."

"Your babies?"

"I mean my designs. I'm going to be the world's coolest weapon inventor. Scythe-guns, shotgun gauntlets, you name it. If you can put a gun on it, I've thought of how to do it."

Weiss giggled, and Ruby almost fell out of her chair in surprise. She never thought she would ever hear Weiss laugh, let alone do that. "A scythe-gun? Really? How is that practical?"

"Oh, it isn't. But it'd look super cool!" Ruby said excitedly. She couldn't help herself. This was her favorite topic, and she could talk about it for hours.

And they did. Weiss seemed fascinated by the subject, and she certainly wasn't going to do anything to derail the one thing that had worked in months. She would throw something out, Weiss would laugh and tell her how absurd it was, and then she'd do it again. She was describing a trumpet that could blow out compressed air like a cannon, having moved on to her more absurd ideas a while ago, when Weiss reached over and grabbed her hand. She stopped talking, and they spent a second looking in each other's eyes.

"Ruby, I, um" she stammered out. She was clearly struggling to get out what she wanted to say. Ruby patiently waited without a word. She didn't want to ruin it. "I'm sorry, okay? Clearly there's a lot more to you than I first thought. I shouldn't have judged you like that." It was clear those words hadn't come easily to her.

Ruby smiled reassuringly at her. "It's okay. I made some assumptions about you I shouldn't have either. Let's just forget about it."

"I wish we could have had a better first impression."

Ruby was suddenly struck with a thought. She motioned Weiss to stay sitting before standing up and walking away. She waited a second before walking over to the table again. She sat down and stuck out her hand. "Hi! I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you!"

"You're such an idiot." Weiss said. But she couldn't hide the grin on her face. Ruby smiled at her and kept her hand out. Weiss reached out and shook it.

"Weiss Schnee. Pleasure to meet you." They both started laughing, and the months of hostility didn't matter anymore. Those were in the past. Ruby only cared about their future.


	6. Never

**Prompt: Right before the last battle RWBY has with Salem's forces, all the adult/parental influences are in the same bar sharing a drink.**

Tai sat alone at the large table, drink in hand. He wasn't sure how many he already drank; he lost count at seven, and the glasses in front of him were too blurry to count. He heard a voice from his side and looked over to see his first love.

 _"I was never going to stay, Tai." Raven said from the seat beside him. "I made that clear when we got married. I made that clear when Yang was born. The Tribe would only survive if it was led by the strong. When they called me, I was always going to go."_

 _"I was never going to live, Tai." Summer said from the other side. "There was always one more mission to take, one more Grimm to fight, one more person to save. It was inevitable I would push too hard."_

 _"I was never going to survive, Tai." Qrow said from farther down. "After she died, I fell apart. The girls helped me pull together, mostly, but it was never going to last. Increasingly dangerous missions, increasing amounts of alcohol. You can only spread bad luck for so long before it comes back around."_

 _"I was never going to retire, Tai." Port said from beside Summer. "I was a warrior. I was going to go out a warrior."_

 _"I was never going to slow down, Tai." Oobleck said from the far side. "I was too excited to learn everything, to do everything. Life isn't a sprint, it's a marathon."_

 _"I was never going to relent, Tai." Goodwitch said from the other side. "After Beacon fell, I rebuilt the Vale Huntsman through sheer force of will. I was always going to fall in their defense."_

 _"I was never going to bend, Tai." Ironwood said from the close corner. "I knew what needed to be done, and I did it. But my stubbornness betrayed me."_

 _"I was never going to stop, Dad." Yang said from the seat across from_ _him. "I always burned so brightly, but the brightest fires burn the shortest. I was too much like you. The only difference was the Rose you would have died to protect was far away from you, but mine was right next to me."_

 _"I was never going to give up, Dad." Ruby said from beside her sister. "I always wanted to be a hero. And I was, in the end. We're only here because of my sacrifice."_

 _"You were always going to live, Tai." They all said at once._

 _"You're too principled to give up." Raven said._

 _"Too strong to be struck down." Summer said._

 _"Too smart to be trapped." Qrow said._

 _"Too kind to throw your life away." Ruby and Yang said._

 _"You were always going to be alone." They all said._

Tai got up, wiped the tears from his eyes, and stumbled out the door. He had too much to do to prepare for the battle to deal with his ghosts. There really wasn't much point to it anyway; he would join them soon enough.


	7. Raven Is Drunk

**Prompt: Raven gets hammered after the V5 stinger and returns to Tai while drunk.**

Raven knew she shouldn't be here. She had promised herself she would never come back when he was alone. When Yang or Ruby were around, it was easy to stay hidden. But when he was alone, it was so very tempting to pretend. Pretend she was gone minutes instead of decades. Pretend she didn't leave her child to grow up motherless. Pretend she deserved him.

It was a seductive thought. It was all she ever wanted on her darkest, loneliest, coldest nights. And it was more dangerous than any Grimm to her survival. She needed to leave, before she did something irreversible. She leapt off her branch to fly away and dropped like a rock to smash into the ground.

Huh. That never happened before. She figured it was probably the alcohol. She didn't think she drank that much, but she also couldn't exactly remember how many she had downed. She was sure it was in the single digits. Probably.

She was also much smaller as a bird. Did alcohol carry over with her transformation? Qrow would definitely know. She should have asked him before he betrayed her. Or did she betray him? It was so hard to remember through this haze. She would figure it out later. Then she would ask him, if he was still alive.

Right now, the ground was so warm, and she was so very tired...

She woke up to the sound of a door closing and took a second to take stock. She was human again, lying somewhere soft, and, while it had slightly lessened, the haze was still buzzing in her head. When she opened her eyes, she was staring directly at her ex.

"Hello Raven. Welcome home." Tai said. His voice was weary and filled with pain, and Raven felt a spike of guilt deep in her stomach.

"I shouldn't have come here."

"No. But you did, so we're finally going to have the talk I needed eighteen years ago."

"Tai, that's not-" she started to say before he cut her off.

"Why? Why did you leave us?" His voice was filled with anger, but his eyes were filled with tears.

"You already know why I couldn't stay."

"No, I know what you told Qrow, which was complete bullshit. I deserve the truth." Her mind flashed back to the Vault. Her arrogant, ignorant child, judging her. The tears that fell when she realized Yang was right. She was a coward.

"I was scared." She said before she could stop herself. "I was scared of dying fighting an unwinnable war."

"You didn't have to leave to stop fighting. Nobody would have forced you to do anything."

"After what Ozpin did to us, I was a target. If I stayed in one place, they would find me."

She expected Tai to respond with anger or pain, but his voice was filled with something else. Compassion. "If you had asked, I would have gone with you. We could have stayed a family."

A surge of anger shot through her. He talked as if she hadn't even considered asking him, as if she hadn't agonized over it for months. She didn't ask him to come because she knew Tai. Whatever he may tell himself, he could never leave a fight.

"I don't see why you care so much. It didn't take you long to find a new family, did it?" Raven said. She knew it was petty, but that particular wound never entirely healed.

"Don't bring Summer into this!" The anger she had been expecting was there now. "You left! Did you expect me to live alone? I needed somebody, Yang needed a mother." Tai abruptly stopped, took a few deep breaths, and waited for her reply, but she didn't say anything. How could she, when he wasn't wrong? The tense silence stretched for a few minutes before Tai's now calm voice broke it.

"Why did you come back? You're not the Branwen twin I usually find passed out drunk in my yard."

She knew how he would react if she told him about Haven. She needed to come up with some excuse, any excuse. But before she could, some part of her that was tired of all the lies started spilling everything. She watched the anger slowly grow on his face as she talked until it was filled with more rage than she thought possible.

When she finished, his voice came out unexpectedly quiet. "You endangered the relic. You endangered your brother. You endangered my daughters." She stared straight into his eyes, and they were filled with a look of betrayal. His voice suddenly grew into a shout.

"GET OUT!"

"Tai, please." She said quietly. He ignored her, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her towards the door. He pushed her outside and turned to leave. She wobbled but managed to stay on her feet.

"I never stopped loving you!" Raven pleaded. She knew she was being weak, and she hated it, but she needed this. She needed something, after everything that happened. After everything she lost. Tai slammed the door and walked away, but his last words echoed inside her head long after he left.

"I did."


	8. One Little Lie

**Prompt: When Yang first held the Lamp, it showed her a terrible secret.**

"I... I'm sorry." Raven said.

"Yeah... me too." Yang replied before Raven disappeared, leaving a single feather floating to the ground. Yang turned away and entered the Vault. She wasn't sure where this place existed, but she immediately knew it wasn't on Remnant. There was a buzzing sensation running up and down her body, the air switched from burning hot to freezing cold at random, and gravity seemed to be off. Each step was too easy to take, and specks of dust floated in the air behind her. The lamp in front of her was emitting strange blue particles into the air. As she walked closer, she noticed it was making a light humming sound. She instinctively realized that the lamp was calling to her, begging her to come closer. The Relic of Knowledge was alive, and it wanted out.

She reached out, picked it up, and felt her eyes being drawn into the bright blue orb at its base. The tears she was holding back from her mother's betrayal finally overwhelmed her, and she dropped to her knees and started crying.

She was only there for a second before she heard a loud snap come from the Relic, and she reopened her eyes to find herself kneeling in a small cabin. She wasn't sure where she was, but she must be out of the Vault because everything felt normal again. She stood up, but before she could move the door opened and a couple walked in. The woman was laughing merrily at some comment the man had clearly made on the way in the door. She leaned over and gave the man a kiss on the cheek.

"You're simply too much for some people to handle." She said.

He grinned back at her. "But not too much for you."

"Never. Now go grab the wine while I start dinner." She gave him a playful shove in the chest before walking into another room. He turned fully towards her, and as Yang got her first full look at him she was struck with a sense of familiarity. She had never seen him before, but she somehow felt like she should know him. He walked to one of the drawers, grabbed a small box out of it, and started pacing around the room. Yang realized he was muttering something under his breath and got closer until she could hear him.

"I can do this." He said to himself. "It's easy. She loves me, she's going to say yes. She has to say yes. Unless she doesn't, and this is too soon, and I ruin everything. Is this really worth losing her? It's a stupid idea, really. Everything is perfect. There's no reason to do it now. There's nothing wrong with waiting."

"Oz, dear, is the wine out yet?" The woman asked as she walked back into the room. Yang couldn't stop herself from letting out a shocked gasp. Once she heard the name, the recognition clicked. This young man must be one of his previous reincarnations. "What are you doing?"

"I, uh, have something to ask you. We've been living together for a few years now, and we love each other, and I just can't imagine ever being away from you." He said quickly. He got down on one knee and opened the box to reveal a sparkling ring. "Salem, will you marry me?" Salem replied with something, but Yang couldn't even hear it over her surprise. This was the evil queen of the Grimm? The laughing young woman holding Ozpin in her arms? She couldn't even imagine what terrible thing happened to transform this loving couple into bitter enemies, what could drive a happy young woman to try to exterminate humanity.

She heard another snap from her hand, and the scene shifted. She was standing in the same place, but the cabin had completely changed around her. Ozpin and Salem were sitting at the kitchen counter, both of them at least fifteen years older.

"I told you it wouldn't be so bad." Salem said.

"You were right, as usual. Plus your sister somehow became a pretty good cook." Ozpin replied.

"Not nearly as good as me."

"Of course not, although..." Ozpin trailed off.

"Although what?" Salem asked, her voice suddenly dangerous. Yang wasn't sure why, but she knew this was a subject that needed to be tread around very carefully. She saw it as clearly as a flashing neon sign, but Ozpin seemed completely oblivious to it.

"Well, her apple pie was the best I've ever tasted."

"Better than mine?" Yang saw that Salem was giving him an out right here. If he was smart, he would take it.

He wasn't smart. "A little bit, yeah."

"It's the same recipe!" She yelled.

"I guess she just makes it better?" He replied tentatively. He seemed to have finally realized he just sprinted blindly into a minefield. Unfortunately, it was way, way too late to avoid setting them off.

"I guess she does." Salem's voice sounded sweet at first, but Yang heard the undercurrent of blind rage. Judging from the way Ozpin's body relaxed, he missed it. "I'm going to bed now."

As she got up, Yang heard another snap from the lamp. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes the room was filled with pies. They covered the table and floor, each one with a single bite taken from the corner. The door opened, and Ozpin walked in. He gasped before carefully moving towards the kitchen.

"Salem, what is this?" He called out. He sounded terrified. Salem walked in from the kitchen and treated them both to a nightmare. The beautiful woman was gone. Salem's skin was now pale white with deep red lines snaking around it, and her eyes were black with glowing red irises. She was holding another pie with a single bite taken out, but this one was oozing black under the crust.

"What did you do?!" Ozpin screamed in horror.

"I couldn't make my pie better, but then it hit me. I simply needed the best apples in the world."

"Tell me you didn't. Not the Forbidden Tree."

"They were so delicious, Oz. And this is the best apple pie ever made. Go on, taste it."

"No! Salem, those apples corrupt your soul and poison your mind. We need to get you help before it's too late."

"Why would I need help? I've never felt better. You will too, once you've tasted this delicious treat."

Salem walked towards Ozpin with the pie in her hand, but when she got close he reached over and smacked it to the floor. The instant rage that engulfed her face made any anger Yang had ever experienced seem utterly insignificant in comparison.

"After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me? I did this for you!" She screamed.

"I love you. We can still get through this if you just come with me."

"No, we can't, because it'll never be good enough for you. But it's okay, I know now what I have to do." Salem's sudden predatory smile was one of the more disturbing things Yang had ever seen. "I swear, no matter how long it takes, I will kill every last human on Remnant. Then even you'll have to admit my pies are the best in the world!"

"That's insane!"

"Is it? IS IT?" Salem turned her head and locked her eyes onto Yang's. "GET OUT, INTRUDER!" Salem screamed. A force slammed into her and threw her backwards, and she heard another snap as she flew through the air.

When she landed, she was lying on the Haven grounds floor surrounded by her friends. Yang stood up and slapped Oscar as hard as she possibly could. "You couldn't just lie to her? Who cares if she didn't make the best pies? All this could have been avoided if you told one little white lie!"

"I was always told lying was wrong." He replied sheepishly.

"Seriously? You've lied to people for thousands of years!"

Oscar shrugged. "Things change." Yang felt her eyes flare up, and Oscar took one look at her before wisely sprinting away.

"What did you see?" Ruby asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Yang gave a defeated sigh. "Some things are better kept a secret."


	9. Silence

**Characters:** **Villains**

 **Theme: Fear**

She kept the money tightly gripped in her left hand as she was slammed into the wall. It wasn't much, but it was everything she had in the world. She slid down to the ground as the three boys, who already towered over her, grew even larger. "It's simple, girl. Give us the money, or we'll take it. And we won't be gentle doing it." She knew she should give it to them, but she was starving. She hadn't eaten in three days. If she gave them her money, she wasn't sure she would live long enough to make more. Her only hope was that someone would see what was happening and come save her.

She shook her head, and as she did she looked around for someone to help. The alley she was in was deserted, but in the street she saw her salvation. A cop car was parked right across the street. If a car was there, a pair of officers couldn't be far away.

The biggest boy there must have seen something in her eyes because he turned to follow her gaze. When he saw the cop car, he stared laughing at her. The others joined in, and their cruel laughter was the worst thing she had ever heard. "You think the cops are going to save you? You should call out to them. Surely they'll hear you."

She opened her mouth and tried to do just that, but she couldn't make a sound. The familiar terror squeezed down on her heart, and no matter how hard she tried to cry out she remained silent. Their laughter only intensified.

"That's what I thought. Now, it's time to teach you a lesson." The lead one said as he reached down to grab something. She barely had time to identify it as a metal rod before he slammed it into her leg. She heard a loud crack as the most horrible pain she ever felt burnt its way up her body. She tried to scream in pain, but she remained silent. The boy only laughed and raised the bar above her. She raised her hand to cover her head, knowing that it was pointless. There was nothing she could do to stop him. He brought the bar swinging back down at her, but it missed by a foot as a hook appeared around his throat and yanked him backwards. She looked up to see her savior was a young man in a white suit wielding a cane.

"Boys, boys, boys, it's bad form to steal from starving little girls. You're going to give thieves a bad reputation." The other two boys charged at him without a word, but the man stepped backwards and swept his cane at their feet. They both tripped, and the man proceeded to use a few well-placed flicks of the cane and kicks to incapacitate them all. Whether they were unconscious or dead she neither knew nor cared. She was in too much pain to worry about her assailants. The man walked over to her and silently examined her. He stood there for what felt like an hour as she sat in blinding pain.

"The streets are no place for someone like you, kid. Come on, we need to leave before someone calls those cops over." He reached down to grab her, but she scooted away from his arms. Or she tried to, at least. The second her leg moved an inch she collapsed into a world of pain.

"Do you really want to stay here like this by yourself?" He asked exasperatedly. She was too hurt to even consider the answer. The man sighed, reached down, and grabbed her face with his hand before she could react. His skin started to glow softly, and before long she felt a cold wave rush through her. Her leg lessened from incapacitating to merely painful, and when she looked her skin was glowing as well.

"Now, do you want to come with me or stay here?" He asked. Whoever he was, nobody else had ever gone out of their way to help her. It couldn't be worse than starving on the street. She nodded at him, and he scooped her up in his arms and walked out of the alley.

/

"You don't have to do this if you don't want." Roman said. The pair were sitting in the Bullhead cockpit with a group of their men in the cargo hold behind them.

"I know. I want to do it." She replied. "You've been taking care of me for years. It's time I do it for myself." After Roman saved her, it took her three years to work up the strength to say anything to him. She managed to get out "Thank you." before leaving and hiding in her room for the rest of the day. Now, she could talk with him freely, as long as nobody else was there. If someone else could hear her that same terror came and wrapped itself around her throat. It was time to overcome that fear.

"Okay, I'll be right behind you. Remember, the job is simple. The docks should be unguarded from the air, and we already know where the Dust is. Land next to it, pack it all in, and fly away before anyone knows we're there." Neo nodded and opened the cockpit door. She took a deep breath and told herself all she needed to do was give a short briefing to five people. Simple.

When she walked into the back, the men fell silent and waited for her orders. She stood there, with Roman behind her, and tried to speak. Nothing came out. She tried to make a single word, even a single syllable, but she was frozen in terror. She silently watched as their expectant eyes slowly turned judgmental. She had almost started moving to run out the door before she felt warm fingers lock onto her hand as Roman stepped up beside her. With newfound energy, she tried again to speak. She managed one small sound, something that sounded more like a cough than a word, before the anxiety stifled her again. Roman stepped forward and started explaining the job for her. And, as he walked past, she heard a barely audible sigh. Roman was disappointed in her.

Roman was the only person in the world who truly cared about her, although she wasn't entirely sure why. Whenever she asked Roman why he helped her, he always gave the same response. "How could a man who loves to hear himself talk find a better partner than someone who never makes a sound?" He was lying, obviously, but Neo never really pushed him on it. Whatever the reason, he saved her. He raised her into a dangerous and capable woman. And right now, although he would never say it, the only person who mattered was disappointed in her. She couldn't bear to let him down again.

She felt her hand involuntarily clamp down on Roman's and knew her nails were digging into him, but the contact helped give her a surge of courage. "We're going to land right next to the Dust containers." She said, taking over the explanation from Roman. The fear didn't lessen, but it somehow didn't matter as much. Her heart was still pounding, her palms were still sweating, and she still felt like she was mere moments from bolting out the side, but she kept her voice strong and steady. "Pry them open, load the contents, and we'll be out of there inside ten minutes. Understood?" The men nodded, and she returned to the cockpit with Roman. The door had barely closed before Roman lifted her up in his arms. He didn't say a word, but he didn't need to say anything. She had just done something she was too petrified to even attempt her entire life.

"Thank you." She whispered. Roman put her down and laughed.

"Me? I barely did anything. That was all you, Neo. Just watch, soon enough you'll be a regular conversationalist. You won't even need me to do the talking."

/

As she walked the streets of Vale, she heard dozens of rumors and theories about the attack. All of them were varying degrees of wrong, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Because there was one thread that ran through every theory. Roman Torchwick helped lead the attacks, and Roman Torchwick was dead. He died, on that airship. After she had abandoned him.

The only thing she had left was a burning desire for revenge. Red and her little Huntress pals died first. Mercury, Emerald, and Cinder would need to be next. Then she would work her way up that organization until everyone even remotely responsible fell to her sword.

But she couldn't do it by herself. She returned to one of their safe houses and walked in to find a dozen former White Fang waiting for her. Roman had slowly been hiring away their best people in case they needed some extra muscle. They were her men, now, and they would help her get vengeance.

"What's the plan, boss?" One of them asked. She knew exactly what needed to be done. Red lived somewhere in Vale, and they needed to start tracking her down. She tried to say that, but an icy hand squeezed down on her heart while another wrapped itself around her throat. She stood there, unable to say anything.

The men looked at her with confusion. They had all heard her explain a dozen jobs before. None of them understood her. Nobody did, anymore. The walls started collapsing in around her. She desperately needed to escape this place before it trapped her forever. She disappeared with her semblance and sprinted out the door, and when she finally stopped she didn't recognize her surroundings.

The paralyzing fear that Roman helped her conquer had returned stronger than ever. She knew she wouldn't be able to beat it again, not without his help. It seemed a fitting punishment for her failures. She hadn't been able to save Roman, but she would share one last thing with him. She would share the silence of the grave.


	10. Cookie Monster

**Prompt: Winter comes to bail Weiss out of jail and Weiss has to explain how she got arrested**

Weiss thought her day couldn't possibly get any worse when she heard them. After the most confusing and humiliating experience of her entire life, she was sitting in jail, of all places. A Schnee, sitting in lockup like a common criminal! All because her dolt of a team leader and reckless older sister couldn't control themselves for ten seconds without her strict supervision. She had thought she hit rock bottom already. Clearly, she was both the new punching bag of some deranged god and severely lacking in their sick imagination; it was the only possible explanation for how she could be so very wrong.

The soft click of Atlas military boots striking the concrete floor approached her cell. There was only one person who would possibly want to see her in those boots. The door swung open, and her sister walked into the cell. The usual happiness she felt at seeing her quickly withered away at the harsh disappointed look on her face. "Sister." Winter said.

"Hello Winter." She replied. Winter stood there without another word, clearly waiting for Weiss to explain herself. That worried her more than everything that happened in her day combined. Winter was never shy about voicing criticism or asking questions. The only times she was ever silent with disapproval was when she was already convinced the person was about to hang themselves without any help.

"Did they tell you why I'm in here?" She asked.

"Only the charges. I asked them to let you give me the explanation. It better be very, very good." Good wasn't a word that could be used to describe anything about her day, but she would simply have to hope Winter found it acceptable.

"Well..."

/

"Guys, hurry up!" Ruby yelled at the rest of her team. "They're going to be gone if we take too long!"

"Rubes, the bakery doesn't even open for twenty minutes." Yang complained.

"But the wait is going to be hours long if we're not there soon, and they'll run out!"

"Wait, bakery?" Weiss asked sleepily. When Ruby dragged her out of bed at this ungodly hour, she was very clear about going on a team building exercise. "You said this was important."

Ruby laughed nervously, and Weiss began to get that familiar headache. "Uh, yeah, about that..."

"Ruby!"

"It is important! This is the only day Vale Bakery has their special strawberry icing cookie! Going to get them builds teamwork."

"What she means is that there's a five cookie limit, and she finally has someone other than me to drag here." Yang said. And just like that, the Ruby headache was back in full force. "You should have seen what she tried last year."

"It almost worked!"

"Yeah, up until Zwei barked when the baker asked how many cookies he wanted."

"Whatever. This year will work much better."

"I cannot belie-" Weiss started before stopping herself. When she actually thought about it, nothing about this was surprising. "This is very you, Ruby."

"Thanks!"

"Not a compliment." Blake spoke for the first time. She didn't sound at all annoyed, but Weiss figured it was because she would have been awake either way. Blake was always the last to bed and the first one up. Weiss was convinced she spent half her "reading" time secretly napping. It was the only possible explanation for her sleep habits.

Ruby's only response was a squeal of delight before a cloud of petals was floating in her place. Weiss looked over to see they were coming up on what must be the bakery. There were only a few people standing in line, and Weiss got the sense that Ruby's perception of the popularity of these cookies was more than a little skewed.

"We could have come here at any time today, right?" Weiss asked.

"Of course. They make plenty of them." Yang replied.

"Then why did you let her pull us out here this early?"

"I wanted to see your reaction." Weiss turned her best glare on Yang. She learned her glare from years of Atlas schooling; most people froze in complete terror under it. Yang only laughed. "See, that's worth a little less sleep."

"You and Ruby are both menaces."

"If you're annoyed now, just wait until you see what she's like _after_ the cookies."

Before she could contemplate what exactly that meant, Weiss jumped back in surprise as Ruby suddenly appeared in their midst. There was a red icing covering her face while she practically vibrated in place. "Seriously?" Weiss asked. "They're still not open yet!"

"Well the back door was unlocked and I wanted to make sure everything was okay and maybe I grabbed a little frosting on the way out but honestly there's nothing wrong with that right I mean if they just left it out there like that someone was going to do it so it might as well be me right that just makes sense." Ruby rambled.

Weiss realized the rest of today was going to be a nightmare unless she set things straight now, but her immediate detailed lecture was derailed when Ruby disappeared again. The rest of them followed the petal trail until they reached her place in line. It didn't take long for the bakery to open, but the way Ruby wouldn't stop jumping around made it seem like forever.

When they finally got the cookies, Ruby's five were gone before they even reached the door. Everyone else's was gone within ten minutes, and Weiss began to get a little worried about her partner. Ruby looked like she might explode at any moment. She decided it would be best to get Ruby to burn some of this energy before her heart gave out.

"Why don't we walk around Vale for a while?" She asked.

"Sounds great lets have a partners day it'll be so much fun." Weiss panicked a little. She was not planning on dealing with Ruby by herself.

"I meant as a team. It's supposed to be a team activity, right?" She said desperately.

"No, no, don't let us get between partners." Yang replied. "Blake and I will go do our own thing."

"Sounds great let's go Weiss." Ruby grabbed her by the back and sprinted away, leaving Weiss a perfect view of Yang snickering at her. She resigned herself to an annoying morning and hoped Ruby would burn out soon.

Eight hours of walking around later, the only thing that burned out was Weiss' patience; Ruby was still bouncing all around her. They were on their way back to the airship. Weiss had decided the best way to deal with this was to toss Ruby out the door somewhere in the forest and let her take it out on the Grimm. As they were walking, Ruby randomly used her semblance to speed away before coming back. Weiss had started ignoring it hours ago, which is why it took her a few minutes to realize when Ruby disappeared on her. As she looked around, she got a sudden sinking feeling. She recognized this neighborhood.

She turned and sprinted backwards, but she was too late. By the time she reached the bakery, the entire front window was shattered as Ruby ran around the previously closed bakery shoving cookies into her mouth. "Ruby! What are you doing?!"

"Sorry Weiss but they're so delicious and they're probably going to throw them out anyway so really it's better that someone eats them rather than wasting food don't you think."

"No! We need to go, now!" Before either of them could leave, however, she heard the sound of a pair of guns being drawn behind them.

"Hands on your head! You're under arrest!" The cops yelled. Weiss put her hands above her head; her traitorous partner simply blurred away and left her to take the blame. Weiss sighed. As soon as she got out of this, she was going to freeze Ruby in a block of ice and leave her in the Beacon courtyard for a few days.

/

"So let me get this straight. You got arrested because your team leader broke into a bakery to steal some cookies?" Winter asked incredulously. Weiss could only nod. It sounded ridiculous, but it was the complete truth.

"Okay, let's go. They dropped the charges when the SDC offered to pay for everything. We're free to leave." Winter replied. Weiss almost fell out of her chair in shock. The last thing Weiss expected was Winter accepting this whole incident without any comment.

"That's it? I thought you would be disappointed in me." Weiss said as they started walking towards the door.

"No, I've dealt with Ruby's family before. Her actions aren't the least bit surprising. I've been in similar situations with him in the past. There's no way to control what happens during them." She said. Weiss wasn't entirely sure who "him" was, but she supposed it hardly mattered if it meant Winter wasn't mad at her.

"At least it's better than being arrested at a liquor store." Winter muttered to herself as they walked out of the cell. The shock that came to her face right after showed pretty clearly she didn't mean to say it out loud.

"What was that?" Weiss asked. Her sister, for the first time Weiss had ever seen, blushed.

"Nothing!"


	11. The Burned Hand

**Prompt: Halloween**

 **As a warning, this story is much darker than my usual. This one is rated M for violence so if that isn't your thing feel free to skip it.**

I stared at Cinder lying tied up by the fire. Even unconscious, there was a dangerous air around her that kept me on edge. It wasn't surprising based off her skill during our fight, but it was rather annoying that I still had to remain wary of her. Not that she had stirred since I cut off her right hand. I would need to wake her up as soon as I figured out what to do with her.

It was an easier prospect a few hours ago. All I had needed to do was drop her off in a cell and never worry about her again. When Yang began coughing up blood that changed. As soon as it happened I had rushed back to the field and confirmed that there was some kind of poison on the tips of Cinder's arrows. Not that it helped me at all. I could recognize it was poisoned, but I didn't have a clue what kind or how to cure it. Cinder knew, and she could tell us the antidote. All I had to do was somehow convince her to help us.

I knew asking her would be pointless. After all the atrocities she had committed, she wouldn't care if Yang died. That only left one method, and I was surprised how little it bothered me. A few years ago it never would have even crossed my mind, but now what mattered most was saving Yang. If I had to torture her to get her to help, that's exactly what I would do.

Plus, as much as I might not want to admit it, a little part of me wanted to do it anyway. I couldn't get the thrill that ran through me when I cut off her hand out of my thoughts. Every time I closed my eyes I could see that satisfying look of rage and pain on her face that I'd experienced way too many times. After all the loss I'd suffered, finally being able to take something from the evil people responsible was incredibly satisfying. I had no doubt Cinder deserved whatever she forced me to do to her.

Well, if I was going to do it I might as well start off on the right note. I moved over to her stump and stepped down. Hard. She jolted awake with a howl, and eyes roiling with fury locked onto my own.

"You worthless little girl. I'll kill you for that."

I tried to ignore the insult, but I couldn't fully suppress my flash of rage. I stepped down on her stump again, this time keeping my foot pressing down on it. She tried to wiggle away, but whatever strength she had during the fight was completely gone. She screamed in pain, and the sound was the most satisfying thing I'd heard in months.

"You poisoned my sister, and I know you can tell me the cure. I'm going to make this simple for you. You're going to give it to me, or I'm going to make you give it to me."

Cinder laughed at me, and even though her obvious pain turned it more into a wheeze the effect was the same. I twisted my foot down, but the only response I got was a quiet hiss. Apparently, she had decided to stop giving me the satisfaction of screams. _It will only make their eventual return sweeter,_ I thought to myself.

"You're not nearly as intimidating as you seem to think, child. The only thing I'm going to do is wait for your sister to die a painful death. Once I'm free, I'll do the same to you and your friends." I would be lying if I said that didn't make me more than a little excited. She was forcing my hand; there was nothing else I could do. _And if I get some enjoyment out of it, there's nothing wrong with that._

I pulled Crescent Rose from behind my back and swung it down straight into her stomach. She flinched back from the blow but otherwise remained silent. I brought it down on her again and again, but her only reaction was an occasional grunt of pain.

This clearly wasn't working. I needed to teach Cinder a lesson, make her afraid of me. _The burned hand teaches best._ The quote popped unbidden into my mind. I think I read it in some book years ago, but it was only now that I saw how to apply its true meaning. I extended Crescent Rose into its full form, slashed it down, and severed her arm right in front of my foot. I moved my foot from the now severed piece and twisted it down on the fresh wound. She screamed again, and I was proven right. It was much more satisfying this time.

"Tell me the cure." The only thing coming from her was screams, so I cut off the next piece.

"Tell me the cure."

"Never, you ignorant child. Watch your beloved sister die." Another slash, another piece, another scream. _The burned hand teaches best._

"Tell me the cure."

"N-" The words weren't even out of her mouth before Crescent Rose sliced through another portion of her arm. I didn't bother to wait because I knew she was going to refuse again. It definitely wasn't because the way her screams increased a pitch right after a slice had become so fascinating. I moved my foot again and kept going.

I had finished with her right arm and just cut off her remaining hand when Jaune ran over. "Ruby, I'm sorry, but Yang stopped breathing. She's gone." I looked down at Cinder's smirk, and my vision went red with rage. This time I cut off her whole left arm, and her screech went on longer than I thought was possible.

Since Yang was dead, there was no real reason to keep going, but I wasn't going to stop now. Cinder had taken another thing from me; she needed to be punished. _The burned hand teaches best._

"Ruby, don't do this!" Cinder cried. _How dare she try to command me._ Crescent flashed down and cut off her left leg below the knee. She let out another scream, this one more of rage than pain.

"I'm going to kill you for that. I'm sorry Ruby, but you're too dangerous to keep letting you live." She hissed. I laughed at her. As if she was in any position to threaten me. A slash with Crescent sent her right leg flopping uselessly to the ground. Her screams changed into a gurgling noise, as if she couldn't catch her breath anymore. The blood loss must be getting to her. Like I cared about something so trivial. _The burned hand teaches best._

She somehow managed to recover fairly quickly, and her grating voice spoke again. "Ruby, stop!" I knew I couldn't stop. Not until Cinder learned her lesson. Not until she paid for everything she had taken from me.

"The burned hand teaches best." I said as I brought Crescent Rose down and severed her final limb.

/

"Ruby, stop!" Jaune cried. He looked at his friend, standing above him with Crescent Rose raised. Glowing red eyes burned in fury as black spiderwebs pulsed beneath her skin.

"The burned hand teaches best." Ruby said, her voice sounding as if she was in a trance. She brought her scythe down on his left leg and chopped it off. He screamed in agony as he started bleeding out all over the ground.

"Can you even hear me?" Jaune managed to get out through the screams.

 _I looked down at Cinder. What a stupid question. "Of course I can hear you. I just don't care." I brought Crescent down onto her side before kneeling down by her shoulders. Helpless to do anything but try to futilely wiggle away, I wrapped my hands around her throat and slowly squeezed. The desperate sounds she made as she fell unconscious were music to my ears. Once she was silent, I twisted my wrists and broke her neck._

As Ruby stood up, Cinder examined the damage from her new weapon. Jaune lay dead at Ruby's feet. As Ruby was strangling him, Nora had somehow managed to ignore the hole in her chest enough to crawl over and die in the arms of her beloved Ren, already gone after Ruby cut his throat near the beginning of the battle. With the power of Fall, Cinder could have easily crushed them all, but the glee she felt watching Ruby massacre her friends was indescribable.

When Tyrian had dumped an unconscious Ruby in front of the throne, all Cinder wanted to do was torture her to death for ruining her triumph at Beacon. The rage she felt when Salem declared nobody could hurt her burned inside her for weeks before she saw what Salem did to Ruby. The parasite inside her, combined with whatever Watts' "special experiments" changed, made controlling her simple. A single word from her and Ruby leapt to do her bidding. Nobody had explained exactly what was done to her, but judging from the glazed eyes and the detached voice she wasn't viewing anything close to reality. Whatever it was, little Ruby was in for a very rude awakening once Cinder finished with her.

She wished she could linger in this carnage longer, but unfortunately they were on a schedule. Salem was willing to indulge her after her victory at Beacon, but only to a point. They needed to hunt down the rest of the targets before her patience ran out.

"Come, Ruby. We need to go find the rest of your team. We simply can't let them miss meeting the new you."

 _Cinder writhed on the ground at my feet. Her hand lay on the ground a few feet away, but why should I stop there? There were still so many more things I could cut off._

 _"Come on, Ruby. Do it." Jaune said._

 _Part of me was repulsed by the plans flowing through my head, but it was only a small part. Cinder was a monster. There was only one way she would ever learn to be better, and it was my responsibility to try to help her. It was what a hero was supposed to do. "The burned hand teaches best." I said as Crescent fell._

"The burned hand teaches best." Ruby said.

Cinder smiled. This part of her revenge was so very sweet, but they still weren't to the best part yet. No, her revenge would be complete once she finished having Ruby slaughter the rest of her family and friends. Then she would remove the Grimm parasite and toss her into a cell. She would leave Ruby alone in the dark, with nothing but the memories of what Cinder forced her to do keeping her company, forever. She would learn what happened to someone who dared hurt their betters.

"Yes it does, Ruby. Yes it does."


	12. Monster Squad

**Prompt: Halloween**

Yang woke up to Weiss' dead body lying on the floor. "Seriously, Ruby, again?" She yelled. "Can you really not control yourself for a single freaking week?!"

"Sorry. It's just really hard to stop once I've started." Ruby said, peeking out from her bed. Most of her face was apologetic, but her eyes were doing their best puppy dog impression. Yang felt her annoyance begin to melt away. She knew her sister was manipulating her, but she'd be damned if it didn't always work.

"If you drank your supplements, it wouldn't be a problem." Yang had lost track of how many times she had scolded Ruby about this over the years. She always hoped Ruby would get better as she grew up, but she only seemed to be getting worse.

Ruby's face twisted in disgust. "I've told you a million times, that blood tastes terrible. All the blood I've ever had tastes terrible, except for hers. Weiss' blood is so very sweet."

"Aww, thanks Ruby." The air above Weiss' body said. If Yang squinted, she could make out Weiss' form floating in the middle of the room. She knew from way too much experience that it would be a few hours before she materialized enough to be easily seen.

"You aren't helping, Weiss." Yang said.

"Because I don't really mind it. While Ruby needs to work on her timing, the actual deed is rather thrilling. Definitely one of the more pleasant ways I've died."

Yang threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Great, so my baby sister can't control herself, but that's okay because her partner gets off on having her blood drained." Yang hadn't known until that moment that ghosts could blush, but the slight reddish glow in the air couldn't possibly be anything else.

"I do nothing of the sort! I simply want to ensure that my teammates are at full strength. Ruby struggles enough without adding the distraction of her thirst." Weiss lied. Yang noticed that the slight grin and hopeful look in Ruby's eyes disappeared at Weiss' shout, and she mentally added another potential problem to her list. As if she didn't already have enough worries in her life.

Then an idea popped into her head, and her face lit up in a mischievous smile. "If that's the case, you won't mind if I take a few bites for breakfast? I'm starving."

"Uh, well, um." Weiss stammered. It was a shame Yang couldn't really see her face. The look of utter confusion as she tried to figure out how to refuse without contradicting herself would have been priceless. Yang gave her a few more seconds to struggle before laughing.

"I'm kidding, Ice Queen. You're way too skinny for me."

"Hey! Take that back!"

"I think you're perfect." Ruby whispered before realizing what she'd said and promptly burying her head into her pillow. Yang upgraded it from "potential problem" to "ticking time bomb". Still, that didn't mean she wanted to deal with it today.

"Come on, we need to go. If we don't hurry, we won't get to eat before class. Get dressed and grab the body, Ruby. We're not leaving it in here all day again. I'm not listening to Blake complain about the smell for a month." Ruby quickly got up and left to change in the bathroom.

"When did she kill you?" Yang asked.

"About an hour ago. I'll be back by dinner." Weiss replied.

"Great. Now be a good ghost and close your eyes. I don't need another teammate peeping on me." Yang said as she started stripping out of her clothes.

"I'm not a ghost." Weiss insisted.

"You die then come back as a translucent floating form that can possess objects. Hate to break it to you, but that's a ghost."

"Oh yeah? If I'm a ghost, you're a z-"

"Finish that sentence, Weiss, and I burn all of your class notes."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me." Yang gave her a few seconds, but she wisely didn't respond. "Good choice. Pack everything up, will you? Thanks to your poor decisions, we're already running late." She changed as Weiss got all their stuff ready to go. By the time she finished, Ruby was waiting with Weiss' body while their backpacks floated in the air by the door. They stopped at the morgue to drop off her body before continuing to the cafeteria. When they got there, Blake was waiting at their usual table with her favorite book.

"Eventful morning?" She asked, eyeing Weiss' ghostly form. Yang sighed.

"That's one way of putting it. Rubes lost control again, but I made sure they cleaned up her body."

"Good, but you better hurry up. We need to leave for class in five minutes." They all dug into their food, which for Ruby and Yang meant they were finished in less than a minute. They then had to sit and wait for Weiss to finish. As annoyed as she was about this morning, Yang couldn't deny watching ghost Weiss eat was fascinating. She didn't have a clue how it actually worked, but it was incredible to watch the food somehow disappear the instant the fork went into Weiss, despite them still being able to see through her. It was, however, slow, and she was still eating up until the end of the five minutes. Yang was starting to wonder how to drag away a ghost when Ruby settled the issue by shoving Weiss' remaining food into her mouth.

"Seriously?" Weiss asked.

"Yep! You snooze, you lose. Now let's hurry up." Ruby activated her semblance and zoomed out of the cafeteria. The rest of the team hurried after their leader to start the only bad part of Beacon, the non-combat classes. Or, as Yang considered it, nap time. She slept through all the classes she could and spent the rest paying more attention to Weiss' progress than to the professors. Watching her gradually return to normal was much more interesting than listening to teachers droning on about things she would never use. By lunch Weiss was a pale blue form floating a few inches off the ground. Through the rest of their classes her normal color slowly returned as she stopped floating. By the time they finally walked out of their last class, the only clue she wasn't yet her normal self was a slight shimmer in the air around her.

"Guys, hurry up! I'm so hungry!" Ruby said as they walked along to the cafeteria. Yang was right about to respond when she noticed that Blake was no longer beside her. She turned around to see Blake kneeling on the ground and visibly shaking.

"It's been five days, Blake! Five!" Yang yelled as she sprinted back to her.

"I know, okay? It keeps happening on its own." Blake managed to get out. The pain was clear in her voice, and Yang felt a little guilty about yelling at her. It wasn't like Blake had any control over it, but some consistency would be nice. She loved Blake but being friends with the only werecat on Remnant who didn't change at the full moon wasn't easy.

"I'm sorry." Yang said. Blake smiled up at her, and Yang aimed her strongest right cross straight at her chin, but she hadn't been quick enough. It connected with a thick forearm and bounced off harmlessly. Before Yang could react, a big cat with human arms and legs swiped at her and threw her backwards. By the time she had gotten back to her feet, Blake was already halfway to the forest. Yang knew that she could never match her speed.

Ruby was a different story. A blur of petals shot past her and collided with Blake. The blow knocked her down, but she quickly regained her feet, grabbed Ruby, and threw her at Yang. "Weiss, freeze her!" Yang shouted as Ruby barreled towards her. She tried to cushion Ruby as she caught her, but her head snapped back and hit Yang's shoulder hard. Yang gently laid her to the ground before Ruby reopened her eyes and gave her a look of utter confusion. Ruby was clearly out of this fight. Yang looked up when she heard a massive crashing noise to see a definitely-not-frozen Blake smash her way through the nearest trees into the forest.

"Weiss, I said to freeze her!"

"I can't do anything yet!" Yang felt like an idiot. She had completely forgotten that Weiss was still in ghost form.

"Stupid useless ghost." She muttered under her breath. "Stay with Ruby!" She told Weiss before running after Blake. Subduing werecat Blake by herself without hurting her was going to suck, but she didn't have many options left. By the time she reached the forest Blake was nowhere to be found, but her trail of destruction was easy enough to follow. At least this time Blake was rampaging through a forest instead of the city. She never wanted to deal with that particular nightmare again.

She had only been running for a few minutes when she heard a loud shriek of pain. That could only be Blake, and something had clearly just hurt her. She turned on the speed and moved towards the sound. She was going to pummel whatever dared touch her partner. As she ran she could hear the sounds of a battle, but right as she was getting close to them she heard another cry before the forest fell silent. Yang burst out of the trees into a small clearing to find a man with a red sword standing above Blake. He was pulling it out of her chest, and the blade was covered in her blood.

Rage more intense than anything she'd felt before boiled inside her and burned away any rational thought. "Get away from her!" She screamed. Her hair burst into flames, and she launched herself at the man. She didn't care who he was or why he was attacking Blake. He hurt her friend, and she was going to kill him for it. She drew back her arm to hit him, but before she reached punching range his sword slashed out faster than she could react, and she felt a sting as her arm separated from her body. She crashed to the ground and stopped moving. He turned around, presumably to finish them off, and Yang waited for him to get close to her before springing up and sucker punching him under the chin. He was surprised, but he reflexively slashed his sword at her throat. Unlike the last one, this was slow and clumsy enough that she easily blocked it on the remaining half of Ember Celica. He clearly expended way too much energy on that one little slash. That would be a fatal mistake.

Even when she was one armed, he was too tired to pose a threat to her. It only took her a few punches to shatter his aura. She then raised her arm and smacked him down so hard he skidded back until he slammed into a tree. Yang could tell from his slumped position that he wouldn't be moving again. She felt her anger turn to worry as she ran over to check on Blake. She was unconscious, but Yang could tell she would be fine. Her wound was already starting to close up. One of the advantages of her werecat form was increased healing. Usually it made catching her when she got loose a pain, but since it saved her life here Yang would never complain about it again.

She stood up and slowly started walking towards the man. He still needed to pay for hurting Blake. "How did you do that?" He asked. He sounded utterly terrified. "You barely reacted to me cutting off your arm."

"Eh, I'll sew it back on later. It'll reattach itself by tomorrow."

He stared at her stump. "You're not even bleeding!"

"Can't bleed when you don't have blood."

"Wha-what are you?!" The man screamed.

"I'm _starving_." Yang replied, a predatory smile lighting up her face. "Let's fix that, shall we?" She reached the now helpless man and settled down for a delicious feast. Of course, she did knock him unconscious first. She was hungry, but there was no reason to be cruel about it. She wasn't a monster.


	13. The Price

Yang wrapped her arms around her sister in a tight hug. "I missed you too, but you're going to crush my lungs." Ruby wheezed out after a few seconds. Yang quickly stepped back, an embarrassed look on her face.

"Sorry, but what do you expect? I only get to see you a few times a year these days."

"Very subtle." Ruby replied.

"Right? I spent the entire walk here thinking it up. I'm pretty proud of it." Subtle wasn't exactly her strong suit, but she figured it might work if she tried it out. It's not like years of being direct had done anything.

Then Yang heard Ruby sigh, and she knew this attempt was as useless as all her others. "I'm not ready yet." Ruby said. Yang quickly suppressed the frustration she felt at another failure. She understood why Ruby had needed a break after that final battle against Salem. They came so close to losing her that Yang still had the occasional nightmare about it. She had thought the break would be measured in weeks, or at the very most a few months. Ruby living alone for years never even crossed her mind.

Yang met her eyes and stared into those familiar silver pools. "Are you ever going to be ready?" She asked gently.

"I don't know, but I'm not right now. Can we just drop it and enjoy the evening?" Ruby asked.

"Sure, but I won't stop bugging you. It's my job as your older sister." An easy smile came to her face. "I'm starving. Do you have something to eat, or did you cook for dinner?" Ruby glared at her, but Yang could tell she was faking it. They both knew that Ruby had precisely zero cooking skills. The best thing that could be said about her food was that it was usually edible. Truthfully, Yang wasn't entirely sure how Ruby managed to live alone without starving to death. She suspected Ruby got food out a lot more than she said.

"Don't worry, I got us pizza." They went to sit at her table and dug into the cheesy deliciousness. Even though they were both adults, sharing a pizza with her little sister instantly brought back memories of countless childhood meals.

"Where's Blake? I thought you said she was coming with you?" Ruby asked.

"She got called away to Menagerie. Sun needed help with a mission. Secret Faunus stuff, no humans needed." Yang tried for a joking tone, but she knew Ruby would see right through it. Times like this reminded her that, no matter how hard she tried, there was a part of Blake's life she could never truly understand. It hurt to know that a fundamental aspect of the woman she loved would always be locked away from her.

"Have you asked her yet?" Ruby said, clearly trying to change the subject.

Yang couldn't stop herself from blushing furiously. "Uh, I haven't gotten around to it yet."

"You want to do it. We both know she would say yes. Why wait?" Ruby asked.

"Because Blake deserves it to be perfect, and I haven't figured it out yet." She had come up with dozens of different proposals, but nothing truly felt right to her. There was a way to ask that would be as memorable and beautiful as Blake, and she wasn't going to ask until she found it. "What about you? Has my baby sister been getting any?"

It was Ruby's turn to blush. "Yang!"

"What? It's not good for you to be by yourself. You'll go blind."

"That's a rumor, Yang." Ruby sighed. "I'll find someone eventually."

"Just not yet." Yang finished for her. Ruby nodded.

"Enough about us. You promised you would tell me about JNR's latest mission." Yang laughed merrily. She had been looking forward to telling Ruby about this since a thoroughly disgruntled Jaune and an ecstatic Nora dragged themselves out of a severely damaged purple Bullhead.

"Okay. I call this one "Jaune versus the demon gopher." You're going to love it." Yang went on to tell the entire story. She may have embellished bits of it for dramatic effect, but most of it was completely accurate. It was also long, and by the time she finished it was already dark outside.

"It's getting late, Rubes. I should go." Yang said. She reached over and gave a gentle hug to her sister. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ruby replied. "Tell Blake I said hi." Yang waved back to her as she walked out the door. She started the walk home whistling happily to herself. Sure, she may have failed to get Ruby to leave, but it was hard not to be happy after spending an evening with her sister. Yang would be back to try again in a few months, and next time she would succeed.

/

She felt it the instant Yang moved out of the range of her semblance, and she dropped the image of Ruby Rose she was holding in her mind. "I don't know if I can keep doing this." Emerald said as she collapsed into the kitchen chair.

"This was your idea." Mercury replied. "I suggested we run far away. You're the one who insisted we needed to pay Yang back for saving our lives." At the time, it seemed like an elegant solution. Yang may have saved them from Watts, but that didn't mean they weren't still on the most wanted list in every kingdom in Remnant. They could have run as far as they wanted, but sooner rather than later someone would have found them. Emerald was going to turn herself in before she saw Ruby get torn apart under that Beowolf. She had realized she could both save herself and repay her savior. A simple illusion changed "killed" to "severely injured", and "Ruby" was pulled out of the battle and saved. Convincing people afterward that the hero Ruby Rose wanted to retire wasn't easy, but a near death experience helped sell some personality changes. Wanting to be alone after that wasn't unreasonable. A secluded cabin was a small ask for a war hero, and she had grabbed Mercury and left for it as soon as possible.

Of course, that didn't mean that Ruby's friends and family were content to stop seeing her, but Emerald quickly thought of a fix to that problem. "Ruby" still had issues with groups so her friends respectfully only visited with a few people. Emerald's semblance had grown enough that she could easily handle that strain. There was no real chance of any of them noticing the illusion. Emerald knew she and Mercury could live hidden like this for the rest of their lives. The woman who saved them got to keep her beloved sister, and they got somewhere perfectly safe to hide. It was a win-win.

At least, that's what she told herself a few years ago. As time went on, it was getting harder and harder to justify keeping this charade up. Was giving them a phantom really better than letting them grieve over their friend and move on? Emerald wasn't so sure, and it was starting to keep her up at night.

"Mercury, am I a monster?" She asked softly. She was terrified of hearing his answer, but she needed someone else's opinion. Mercury crouched down and looked her straight in the eyes.

"You're a survivor, Emerald. Just like me. There's nothing wrong with that." His voice was so confident she desperately wanted to believe him, but she found that inside her heart she couldn't. Whatever Mercury said, whatever her rationalizations for her behavior, she knew exactly what she truly was these days. The real question was whether she could live with being a monster, but she put off solving that for another day. If she decided she couldn't, Yang would be back soon enough to end it. Maybe then she would finally be able to get some sleep.

 **Prompt: Yang pays a visit to Mercury and Emerald at their home, after the series ends**


	14. Team WBY

**Prompt: Ruby dies and WBY tries to cope with it.**

Yang was finishing her seventh glass when she finally appeared. "You're late. You usually come two drinks ago." She said. Yang heard a disappointed sigh as her sister sat down at the bar next to her.

"You can't keep doing this." Ruby said. Her voice sounded as weary as Yang always felt these days.

"I can't sit down for a few drinks with my sister?"

"Not when she's your _dead_ sister. This isn't good for you. You're drinking all day before coming here to have even more every night. You've been drunk more often than Qrow since the battle."

Yang slammed the drink in her hand down onto the bar, and the sound of shattered glass rang through the room. "So what? If this is the only way to see you, this is what I have to do."

Ruby grabbed her hand, but there was no warmth in the gesture, no sense of her presence. If Yang closed her eyes, she would think that some inanimate object was sitting on her hand. "You're not seeing me. You're seeing a phantom."

"It's better than nothing. It's better than being alone." Yang's voice finally cracked, and she knew the intense pain she felt was finally coming through in her tone.

"You aren't alone. You have Weiss, who needs you as much as you need her. And you have Blake, the woman you love with all your heart."

"But not you. I don't have the sister that grew up with me, that fought beside me, that kept me going whenever I wanted to give up. The purest soul in my entire life. All because I got you killed."

"We were surrounded, and you were watching my back. You couldn't watch in front of me too. That Beowolf was my responsibility, but there were too many of them." Ruby reached over, grabbed Yang's chin, and lifted her face until their eyes met. Those silver pools held a world of compassion. "All I ever wanted was to be a Huntress. You helped train and protect me my entire life. You're the reason I got to fulfill my dream. But we always knew it wasn't a safe dream. Huntresses die, Yang. That's what happens. It isn't anybody's fault."

Yang shook her head. "This battle was way too dangerous for us. I never should have let you go."

"If I knew before the battle that it would kill me, I still would have fought. My efforts there saved countless lives. Don't diminish my sacrifice by blaming yourself."

Yang wasn't entirely sure when she had started crying, but she could feel tears running down her face. "I don't know if I can do this without you." She sobbed.

"I do. You're the strongest person I've ever met, Yang. It's not going to be easy, but you and Weiss and Blake will find a way to keep going." Ruby stood up. "You won't see me again. If you want to drink yourself to oblivion, I can't stop you. All I can do is hope."

"I love you." Yang said.

"I love you too." Ruby smiled at her, and then she disappeared forever.

Yang wiped the tears from her eyes before waving the bartender over. "I'm closing my tab." She said.

"Are you sure? It's easier to keep it open when you come here every night."

"Yes. I won't be back."

/

Weiss rolled over in bed to see her partner staring at her. "Hey you." Ruby whispered. It took her a few seconds of confusion to recognize what was happening.

"This is a dream." She said.

Ruby laughed and kissed her forehead. "Sure, but it's a good dream, right? Let's enjoy it together."

"Okay." Weiss laid her head next to Ruby and enjoyed the warmth radiating off her. She breathed in deep the slight scent of roses her partner always wore like a perfume. "I miss you. Every second of every day."

"Me too. That's the problem, Weiss."

Weiss gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"You're barely eating, you haven't left the house in weeks, and last night was the first real night's sleep you've gotten in forever. You're wasting away."

"So what if I am? At least then I'll see you again."

Ruby looked at her with eyes full of disapproval. "Stop it. You didn't survive a war so you could die in bed."

"What's the point of surviving if you're gone?"

"How about remembering me? Weiss, all that's left of me in this world are memories. The times I shared with my friends, my family, and my love. You, Weiss Schnee, are the only one in the world who knows how it feels to be in love with me, to hold me close, to kiss me." Weiss blushed at the last one, and Ruby let out a laugh. "If you die, you're killing those memories. You're ripping a part of me out of the world forever."

Weiss was crying now. "I don't want memories, I want you. You were the love of my life."

"I was your first love." Ruby corrected. "That doesn't mean I have to be your last." She leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. "I'll always love you, and some part of you will always love me. That doesn't mean you should be alone. There's someone else out there for you, someone incredible who can share the rest of your life. After everything you've been through, you deserve happiness. You can't be happy pining over a ghost."

"How could I ever move on to someone else? How can anyone compare to you?"

"You won't be comparing us. They'll be different from me, and your love will be different than with me. There's nothing wrong with that." Ruby smiled at her. "Enjoy your time with them. When you do reach your end, we'll be reunited, and you can tell me all about the incredible life you've led. Tell me about all the things I could never experience. But if your story begins and ends in this room, I swear I'll refuse to talk to you." Ruby said the last part in her mock serious voice, and Weiss couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face.

"I suppose I can do that for you."

Ruby laughed at her expression and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye for now, Weiss." Weiss blinked, and when her eyes reopened Ruby was gone. She wiped the tears off her face and got out of bed. She had too much to do to spend more time lounging in her room.

/

Blake was taking a comforting walk in the woods when she saw Ruby leaning against a tree waiting for her. "Great, now I'm hallucinating." Blake said.

"Well, maybe. I could be a figment of your imagination, or I could be something else. There's no real way to know. Which is rather the point." Blake was going to keep pushing her on that but decided against it. There wasn't much of a point in getting into a philosophical debate with herself.

"So why are you here then? I miss you, Ruby, but I'm dealing with it. Unlike some people." That was, at the moment, the more pressing issue in her mind. She knew she needed to grieve, but she could deal with her own feelings later. Right now she was focusing on not losing the rest of her teammates. Not that she'd actually been able to come up with anything to help them.

"I know, but I wanted to see you. It wouldn't be fair to say goodbye to everyone except you. You might not have been my sister or my girlfriend, but you were one of my closest friends." When she heard those last words, Blake froze. It took her a few seconds to realize what was happening. She focused on her hearing to confirm it, and when she did fury began building inside her.

"Fiancée." Blake said quietly.

"What?"

"Ruby was Weiss' fiancée. She proposed a few days before the battle. You're not a ghost or a figment of my imagination. You, "Ruby", aren't breathing." Blake turned and stared at an empty patch of ground. "But I can hear you loud and clear."

"Oops. The small details are the hardest to get right." Emerald said as Ruby disappeared.

Blake started stalking towards her. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you."

"Because I was trying to help."

"Bullshit!"

"I told you I already visited the rest of your team. You know that both were doing their best to self-destruct. I knew "Ruby" could get through to them, and I was right. Yang is no longer drinking herself to death, and Weiss isn't wasting away in her room."

Blake stopped moving once she processed the words. The fury was still there, but hope sprang up to cover it. "Why would you help us? We're your enemies."

"True, but Yang saved me. She didn't have to do it. She probably shouldn't have, but she risked her life for me anyway. I needed to repay her."

"Using Ruby like that was wrong."

"Sure, but it was effective. You were her friend. Do you really think she would mind me doing it if it saved the people she loved?" As much as she hated to admit it, Blake couldn't deny that she had a point. Ruby would be okay with it if it helped others.

"You could have slipped away while everyone was dealing with the Grimm, but now that chance is gone. You're on the most wanted list of every kingdom in Remnant. The people hunting you won't bother to keep you alive. This stunt probably killed you."

"Maybe, but what's the point of surviving if I can't sleep at night? I won't live like that again."

It sounded plausible, but Emerald could still be lying. Then again, if she really helped her team Blake didn't particularly care about her motives. "I'm not going to stop you, but if any of us see you again we will kill you. Understood?"

"Yes." Emerald said before walking away. Blake turned and started running back. If Emerald was lying, she wanted to start hunting her as soon as possible. If she was telling the truth, Blake needed to see her team snapped out of their depression. Then she could finally let herself grieve for her dead friend.

* * *

 **Normally I wouldn't use the same concept twice, but since my last prompt happened to be about Emerald stopping them from coping with Ruby's death I couldn't resist twisting it around. Consider this Mirror Universe B where Emerald is a slightly better person.**


	15. The Good Old Days

**Prompt:** **Ozpin and Salem were on a team, once upon a time. At the end of v2, they reminisce about how different things are compared to back then.**

"The students stopped the attack before too much damage was inflicted, and Roman Torchwick and numerous White Fang members are now in custody. A good attempt, but not one of your better plans." Ozpin said as he stared out his office window. He heard merry laughter from behind him.

"Is that what you think happened?" She asked in that annoying tone only she could use.

"What I know is that Vale will not fall." He replied harshly.

"Today, sure. But it will, sooner or later. We both know its destruction is inevitable. We've both seen in countless times before. Everything dies, Ozpin."

Ozpin turned and gave his old friend a bitter smile. "Not everything." Salem hissed in anger, and Ozpin was sure if she was here he would get a familiar cuff on the head. Even after thousands of years, he could still remember that sharp sting he'd felt so many times.

"Whose fault is that, Ozpin? I didn't choose to be an abomination. You did that to me." These days Salem tried for a whole "mysterious evil overlord" tone all the time, but Ozpin could always bring out her festering hatred if he talked long enough. Although, thinking about it, getting it within the first five sentences might be a record.

"I couldn't just let you die, Salem. I didn't thi-"

"No, you didn't think! You never, ever took the time to think. You ran around shoving us from one dangerous situation to the next and left me to always think of a way out."

"Only because I knew you could do it. I was never wrong, was I? Even that Ursa" Ozpin began before trailing off, but he couldn't do it quick enough to avoid the tears suddenly filling Salem's eyes. He took an automatic step forward before stopping himself. His heart was filled with the desperate need to wrap his arms around his crying friend, despite the fact that he knew she was a world away from him.

"Aren't you going to finish, Oz? You might as well say it." He didn't want to say anything further, but she wasn't going to let it go until he did. Better to rip the bandage off quickly.

"Even that Ursa hunt wasn't my idea." He tried to soften his voice as much as possible, but he knew it didn't do much.

"No, it was mine. Like it was my fault I wasn't fast enough to block its paw. Like it was my fault I ended up bleeding out on the ground. You should have let me die, Oz. It would have been my own fault. But no, the great and powerful Oz couldn't let something like death get the better of him, right? He always has to be the hero. Always has to save everyone from themselves. Couldn't stop himself from using his immortality to save his poor helpless teammate."

"I didn't know it would be permanent."

"But you do now. You could fix what you did to me tomorrow if you wanted. Just give me the Relics, and I'll set everything right. Break our curses and make us both mortal again." Salem pleaded.

If the price wasn't so high, he likely would have given in to her long ago. But, no matter how much he wanted to help her, the instant death of every living creature in the world was too much to ask. "No. I won't let you kill everyone."

"WHO CARES?" She screamed right in his ear. He winced back from the pain and suppressed his flash of annoyance. It was a mental bond, so she could make it appear as if she was talking to him from anywhere. This was just her being petty. "We've been doing this for thousands of years, Oz. Every single living thing on this planet has died around us countless times. Why does it matter if they all died at once instead of spread out? Life would start replenishing itself the second after I fixed everything. Puppies and rainbows would be back in the world before either of us left it."

"New life doesn't change the time you would take from everything that is alive now. Nobody has a right to steal that from the world."

"Too bad for them. This needs to be done. I'm going to beat you, kill your allies, and take what you've hidden away. You can't stop me, Oz." She smiled at him, a bitter smile to match his own. "After all, I'm the one who did all the thinking. And when I do, once I gather all the Relics and fix us, we can restart. We can finally be together again. Adventuring together, fighting together, sleeping together. And then, when we're both old and grey, I'll take my dagger and cut our throats. The world will be as it's supposed to be. That's a promise, Oz." Salem said before fading away.

Ozpin turned away, returned to staring out his window, and tried to calm his racing heart. It wasn't even close to the first time Salem made that offer, but that didn't make it any less tempting each time. It would be so easy, so satisfying, and so very wrong. He took a few deep breaths before pulling out his scroll. Salem only asked that right before one of her big plans set something off. He needed to warn the Maidens, the Headmasters, and Qrow. He wasn't sure exactly where, but he knew a storm was coming.


	16. What She Deserves

**Prompt: After Salem's victory, Cinder wanders a desolated landscape, thinking about what she's done.**

 **Request by brave kid**

As Cinder walked towards the village, the complete silence around her became more and more telling. Deep down she recognized what it meant, but she tried to put it out of her mind. She couldn't really know for certain, not until she checked. But once she got close enough, she began to see the familiar signs. Objects lying randomly on the street, barely visible through the trees and grass that were fighting the slow battle to erase humanity from the world. Windows and doors left completely open to the elements. The slight smell of decay hanging around the entire area.

She had reached the point where she couldn't even pretend that the village was any different than the others she had already visited, but that didn't stop her. She still checked every room in every house for any sign of people. Her search took most of the day, but by the end she hadn't found anything. There was nothing to suggest anyone had survived the attack. As she walked towards the center of the village, she gathered her power in her mind. Once she reached it, she unleashed the full force of the Maidens. Fire and lightning and ice flew from her hands and formed a deadly vortex around her that lashed out against the buildings. As she pushed it further from her, she removed every trace of the village from the area. The homes of dozens of people, the labors of countless years, the place of untold love and hate and sorrow and despair, all undone within a few minutes by her power.

Leveling the villages after she didn't find anything was the only way she used her power these days. The irony of it wasn't lost on her. She had sacrificed so much to obtain the Maiden powers, but the incredible thrill she used to get from unleashing them had turned into a joyless routine. The first villages she destroyed had been different, but that was years ago. That was when the rage of never finding anyone used to grow inside her after every fruitless search, and she would take out her anger on the village. Now, she did it out of simple convenience. No matter how long she wandered the wilderness, she would never waste her time searching a place twice. It's not like anyone was using them anyway.

Once she was finished, she started walking down the path again. It would always lead to the next place, and she would find survivors there. She was sure of it. Of course, she had been sure about this one, but she put that aside. She always knew that the next village would still have people, that tomorrow she would run into a group traveling down the road. Because if she didn't, if she accepted Salem's promise that she was the last human alive, she would collapse. And Cinder refused to surrender to despair.

She tried to focus on the road as she walked, but as always she couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to her last encounter with Salem. The incredible pride as she handed over her four prizes. The horrifying smile on Salem's face before the dark pulse of energy shot out of her hands. The shock on her face at Cinder's survival, and the sick glee in her voice as she explained that everyone else in the world was dead. She had tried to kill her after that, but Salem had simply snapped her fingers, and Cinder was suddenly alone in the middle of the wilderness. She had been sure Salem was lying until she reached the first abandoned village and saw it firsthand. She had begun her trek across the countryside, sure that she would find someone soon. She had no idea how much time had passed since that day; she stopped counting after the third year.

She did know that it hadn't been long since she finally accepted that she deserved this punishment. All she had ever wanted was power. The power to make her own choices, the power to protect herself from anything, the power to inspire the same fear in others that she had felt her entire life. She had been willing to do anything to get it. Now she had all the power in the world, and she would trade it away in an instant for some company.

A sudden sound snapped Cinder out of her dark thoughts, but she had been alone for so long that it took her a while to recognize it. As soon as she did, she leapt into the air and shot towards it. It was so faint it must be far away, but the unmistakable sound of a girl crying gave her a burst of energy. She was moving so quickly she soon reached the sound of the noise, a small farmhouse with a huddled little girl sitting against the side. Cinder landed at a safe distance and got a good look at the girl as she ran towards the house. She was about ten years old, with short black hair and a tattered dress that was probably red underneath what looked like years of dirt and grime. The instant the girl saw Cinder she leapt up, sprinted over, and squeezed her in a tight hug. Clearly any fear of a stranger was gone after years of isolation. Cinder felt exactly the same; the simple contact that used to repulse her was the most comforting thing she had felt in ages. She hadn't cried since she was a young child, since she had learned to turn the sadness to rage, but now she couldn't stop the tears coming from her eyes.

"What's your name?" Cinder asked.

The child looked up at her with shining amber eyes. "I don't remember." She whispered before burying her head into Cinder's side.

Cinder started gently stroking her hair as the girl started crying again. "It's okay, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that I'm here, and we'll never be alone again."


	17. Dreaming of a Nightmare

**Prompt: Jaune dreams of Salem calling out to him, tempting him to turn to the Dark Side.**

 _"Are you ready for this?" Ruby whispered to Jaune. He gave her a look of utter confusion._

 _"Ready for what?"_

 _"The test, idiot. You know, the thing that determines whether you get kicked out of Beacon. You did remember to study, right?" Weiss asked. She took one look at the bafflement on his face and sighed. "Of course you didn't. Well, it's only advanced mathmatology. I'm sure you can figure it out."_

 _Jaune was going to respond, but before he could say anything a massive stack of papers was dropped on his desk. The entire room shook from the impact. Jaune looked up to see Professor Beowolf smiling down at him. "I hope you prepared well, Jaune. I'm going to eat everyone who doesn't get at least 115%."_

 _Jaune swallowed his sudden nervousness, nodded, and began taking the test. Or he tried to take it, at least. The symbols on it were some kind of alien script he had never seen before, and he was completely lost on what to do. He stared at it for what felt like forever, but eventually he was confronted with the realization that he would fail unless he took drastic measures. He didn't want to cheat, but if that was the only way to save his life, he would do it. He looked over at Neo, but instead of taking her test she was looking at him with an evil smile on her face. He looked on his other side to see Ruby staring at him with wide eyes. He felt sudden pressure on him and looked around the entire room to see that everyone was staring at him with expressions ranging from amused to shocked._

 _"Jaune." A woman's voice called from somewhere beyond the classroom. Something about it was weird, but he was too worried about why everyone was staring at him to put any focus on it. As he looked around, he noticed that most of their eyes were focused downwards, and when he looked down, he felt like he might melt into the floor. He wasn't sure how, but he forgot to put on pants today. He leapt up and sprinted out the door, test forgotten._

He woke up to the sound of a door slamming. He looked over and saw that Nora's bed was empty. Clearly she had just gone to explore the train, and as usual forgot to be quiet during the night. Jaune rolled over again and closed his eyes.

 _The Grimm were right behind him, and if he didn't hurry, they would catch him. He tried to sprint away, but no matter how hard he ran he couldn't manage anything faster than a walk. "Hurry up, Jaune!" Ren said as he ran past._

 _"Yeah, they'll be here soon." Nora added as she sprinted past him. His brain was screaming at his legs to move faster, but for some reason he couldn't manage to do it. The Grimm were soon upon him, and as he spun around, he saw an Ursa raising its paw to attack him. He tried to bring his shield up to block it, but his movement was too sluggish to get it into place. The Ursa attack came barreling towards him, and he was running with the Grimm right behind him. He was trying to sprint, but he could only manage to crawl forward._

 _"Come on, slowpoke." Nora said as she ran past him._

 _"We're not stopping for you." Ren said as he shot after Nora. He wanted to follow them, but with their pace so much faster they were out of his sight in an instant._

 _"Jaune, come to me." He heard a voice call from behind him. Part of him desperately wanted to find out what it wanted, but the Grimm were behind him. He would be crazy to try to fight through that massive wall of monsters. He kept trying to run, but it wasn't long before a Death Stalker was right behind him. Its claw lunged towards his neck, and he was running with the Grimm right behind him. He tried to sprint away, but he was rooted in place._

 _"They're going to catch you." Ren said as he ran past._

 _"Have fun with them." Nora said as she followed him. Jaune blinked, and suddenly he was surrounded by Grimm. Instead of attacking, though, they were all sitting on the ground, and Jaune noticed that each was wearing a saddle. His friends were mounted on the Grimm. Ruby was riding a Beowolf, Yang was on an Ursa, and Zwei was mounted on a Paladin._

 _"Come on Jaune, we need to go." Zwei said as he pointed at an empty Nevermore with a saddle. Jaune hopped on, and the Nevermore took off. At first he was terrified of falling off, but as the ride went on, he began to relax more. Sitting on a deadly Grimm, soaring through the air, was an incredibly thrilling experience._

 _"Want to see what this thing can really do?" Velvet asked from behind him. Jaune nodded, and Velvet tapped the Nevermore on its left wing. It instantly dove, and as they sped towards the ground, he realized there wasn't enough room for it to pull up again. Normally that might have worried him, but he felt strangely calm as they ran straight into the ground._

 _"Jaune. Meet me at the Dust shop." That same seductive voice called out. Jaune wasn't sure who it was, but it's not like he had anything better to do. But, as he walked around Vale, he realized that he didn't have any idea where the Dust shop was located._

 _"Where are we going?" He asked._

 _"How do you not know?" Coco asked from in front of him. She turned to look at him. "It's right over that way." As she said it, her hand was spinning around in every direction._

 _"What, which way?" He asked._

 _"I said that way." Cardin said. His finger continued spinning in every direction. Jaune shrugged, picked a random street, and started walking down it. He kept walking until he saw Weiss standing in the street._

 _"Do you know where the Dust shop is in here?" Jaune asked. Weiss glared up at him._

 _"Tried looking down yet, idiot?" Weiss asked, her tone incredibly annoyed. Jaune looked down and realized he was standing on top of the entrance. He reached down, opened the door, and walked inside. There was a woman wearing black in there, but he couldn't see her face with her back turned._

 _"Jaune." She said. She began to turn around. "Jaune!"_

"Jaune!" Nora screamed in his ear.

"Uh, what?" He said groggily.

"Do you want pancakes? This train has great pancakes! Almost as good as Ren's!"

"No. I want to sleep. Go away." Jaune mumbled out in response. Nora shrugged.

"More for me." Nora said before walking out the room. Jaune closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

 _Jaune was shooting out his fireballs to keep Mercury and Emerald away from him. They were far enough away that he couldn't hope to hit them, but his efforts were stopping them from getting any closer. He kept shooting until eventually he tried but nothing came out. Mercury and Emerald started sprinting forward, but he couldn't seem to produce any more fireballs. When they got within a few feet, he panicked, and a massive fireball somehow appeared in his hands and launched itself at them. They dove for cover, and he sprinted away from them. He tried to keep up the barrage as he ran, but he couldn't seem to summon another one. They soon caught up to him again, and again once they were close, he could suddenly conjure another fireball. He shot it at them, leapt forward, and fell onto the top of a train. There was a dark form waiting for him there that, while it did have a distinctly feminine form, didn't have any identifiable features._

 _"Jaune... Finally..." The form said in that familiar voice. Or, at least, that's what he thought she said. The rumble of the tracks was so loud he couldn't quite make everything out._

 _"What do you want?"_

 _"To...make...proffer...can't refute." She said._

 _"What?"_

 _"Give... unbelievable power... for your undying soul."_

 _"Um, I don't"_

"Wake up!" Ren said. Jaune came to with Ren violently shaking his shoulder.

"What is it?" He asked.

"We're at Argus. I've been trying to wake you up for five minutes." Ren replied. Jaune instantly felt embarrassed. Usually he was a light sleeper.

"Sorry. I was having the strangest dream."

"Oh, fun! Tell us all about it!" Nora said enthusiastically.

"Well, I could use magic, and I was fighting with Mercury, and, uh..." He trailed off as he realized that details of it were slipping out of his mind. It took him a few seconds of thought to remember what happened next. "Then I was on a train with some woman, and I think she offered me an unbelievable shower in exchange for some undyed wool." He wasn't entirely sure if that was right, but it was all he could remember. "I don't know. It felt like more than a dream, somehow. Has that ever happened to you guys?"

"No." Ren replied as Nora shook her head. "Do you really think it wasn't a dream?"

"Oooh, maybe it was a vital message from someone!" Nora said.

Jaune thought about it for a minute, but he couldn't come up with how it could be anything else. He shrugged. "No, it was probably just a weird dream. How could a dream possibly be important?"


	18. Pyrrha's Rebirth

**Prompt:** **Tyrian brings Salem a sample of Pyrrha's hair he collected at the remains of Beacon. What happens when Salem drops the hair into one of the pools the Grimm are created in?**

"I found Cinder passed out in the tower and brought her back. She is resting in her room whenever Your Grace wishes to see her." Tyrian said. Salem looked down at him and smiled.

"Excellent work, Tyrian." His face lit up in pure joy at her praise, and her smile got even wider. She loved when Tyrian's type worked under her. They were always the easiest to manipulate into doing anything. She waited for him to scurry off like usual, but instead he stayed bowed. "Is there something else?"

"Yes, Your Grace. I have retrieved a lock of the Maiden candidate's hair for you." Salem sighed. The one downside of working with these types was that they all seemed to have some creepy obsession. Taking hairs and gifting it to her was Tyrian's own special brand of crazy. She tolerated it solely because he was so effective.

"Thank you. Give it to me and go tend to Cinder." Tyrian walked up, bowed his head, and extended the "gift" on his hands. Salem was glad his bowed head couldn't see the disdain on her face as she took it. He ran off after she grabbed it, and she waited for the door to slam shut behind him before she tossed it out the nearest window. She quickly moved away from the window which is why she missed what happened next.

The lock of hair was caught by the breeze and carried away. It floated down to the ground and fell into one of the bubbling black pools. It sunk, down and down, until it reached the bottom. And when it touched the mud underneath, a hand burst forth from the ground. It was followed by an arm, then a torso, then an entire creature. When it tried to breathe, its lungs instead filled with the black darkness. It felt burning inside itself, and it quickly oriented upwards and kicked as hard as possible. It shot up until it burst out of the black goo. It quickly swam to shore and got out of the pool.

As the burning slowly faded, it was given its first opportunity to think. It looked around its surroundings to see a massive black castle surrounded by a desolate black land crawling with Grimm. It immediately flinched back, but the surrounding Grimm ignored it completely. It, it, it. No, that couldn't be right. It somehow knew it supposed to be a she, even if she couldn't remember why. She tried, but all she got was incoherent flashes. She decided that going to the nearby structure was her best bet. As she walked, a single solid memory slowed started forming in her mind. A girl in a red cloak, screaming the name Pyrrha as the world went white. She decided that must be her name. Again, it felt right without her being able to point to any specific reason why.

She walked up to the massive metals doors and knew from their size that she could never open them. Without conscious thought, she twisted her wrist and the doors somehow exploded off their hinges. That's right, she could control metal. A useful ability to have right now. The front hall was empty, and she picked a hallway at random and started down it. She couldn't consciously say where she was going, but somehow, she instantly knew where to turn at every intersection. She moved through the castle for a while before coming to a room with a large table. There were four people she didn't recognize sitting around it, another two standing behind the chairs, and one woman that she felt drawn to sitting at the head.

"My, my, my. What an interesting little development." The woman, who she suddenly knew as Salem, said as she approached. She walked forward until she was a few feet away before reflexively falling to her knees. "What do you want, my child?"

"To serve you." Pyrrha replied. She didn't know she had wanted that when she walked into the room, but she was sure that's all she wanted now.

"Understandable, but I'm not in need of any new subordinates." Pyrrha knew instantly what she meant. She sprang up and leapt across the table towards where the man was standing. He started to back up, raising his legs to attack her, but a simple gesture from her and he fell to the ground as she yanked his legs out from under him. She was on him before he could move, and her claws had killed him before he could even scream. Pyrrha stood up from her fresh kill to see the rest of the room staring st her with horrified expressions. Except Salem, who had a look of glee written all over her face.

"Excellent work, child. It appears we have a new opening. Take your place behind dear Cinder." She walked forward until she was right behind her, and as Salem resumed speaking, she stared at Cinder's unguarded back. Pyrrha knew she hated Cinder with a rage more visceral than anything she had ever experienced. She wasn't sure why she felt it, but she knew she was going to kill Cinder someday soon. There were only four spots at the table, and Cinder was currently occupying hers. That wouldn't be a problem for much longer.


	19. All Tied Up

**Prompt: Raven, Yang, and Taiyang are tied up and locked in a random room.**

When Yang heard a voice urgently calling her name, she snapped awake and tried to bolt up. She only got a few inches before the ropes tying her hands behind her slammed up against the chair. She sunk back down in pain and blearily tried to figure out what was happening. She was tied to a chair in the middle of a dimly lit room, but she didn't have a clue how she had gotten here. All she knew was that this wasn't the fun kind of tied up and disoriented from when she had a few too many drinks with the twins. "What's going on? Where am I?" She asked.

"Good, you're finally awake." Raven said from behind her. Yang twisted around as much as she could in the chair and saw her mother tied up similarly to her.

"Mom? What's happening?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. I woke up like this a few minutes ago. I'm pretty sure someone drugged us. I've been trying to wake Tai up, but I can't get him."

"Dad? Dad! Wake up!" Yang yelled to no avail. She sighed. Nothing short of an explosion could wake up Taiyang Xiao Long before he was ready, and clearly being drugged didn't change that. "We need to get out of here."

"Obviously." Raven replied. "Do you have any useful ideas to contribute?"

"I don't see you helping." She snapped back.

"I'm disappointed in you. I raised you to take care of yourself." Raven said. Yang felt a flicker of rage begin burning inside her.

"You didn't raise me at all!" She yelled.

"I taught you everything you needed to know. It's not my fault you were too stupid to understand it." The flicker was turning into an inferno, and her vision was slowly growing red.

"How could you teach me anything when you were gone?"

"I would have taken you with me, but as soon as you were born, I knew you'd be a disappointment to me. And I was right." Yang couldn't take it anymore. She screamed in pure rage and slammed her feet into the ground. The chair shattered into kindling around her, and she turned around to go beat some sense into her mother. And subsequent stopped when she got close enough to see Raven's smirk.

"Well done. Now get me out." She said. Her smug tone made it clear that she had purposely baiting her, and Yang began to calm down again. But she also stopped moving towards her. This was too perfect an opportunity to pass up.

"No. I think now is the perfect time to talk about everything." Yang said.

"Really? Someone kidnapped us, and you think now is the best time?" Raven asked incredulously.

"Yes because right now you can't run away again. We're going to talk until I'm satisfied this time."

"I came back, didn't I? Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Of course it does. A little. But you still haven't even apologized to me." That was what stung the most. She had been trying for weeks to forgive Raven, but she couldn't manage to move on when her mother didn't seem to care how much she had hurt her.

"Because I didn't do anything wrong." Raven replied indignantly. Yang's only response was to stare at her. They stood frozen like that for a few minutes before Raven finally sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? You're right. I shouldn't have left. What I did was wrong. But I'm here, now. I want to make up for it, if you'll give me the chance."

Yang felt tears begin to roll down her eyes. "Yes. That's all I wanted to hear." She walked behind Raven and untied her hands. She got up and started toward her father, but before she got more than a few steps he opened his eyes and pulled his arms apart. The ropes broke with a snap as he stood up.

"Really?" Yang asked. Her father gave her a rueful smile.

"I didn't want to interrupt your talk. You two were making so much progress. Now, let's try to get out of here." The three of them looked around the room until they found the door and walked over to it. But once they reached it, Yang knew there was no getting out that way. The thick steel door didn't even have a handle on this side and was much too heavy for them to move or break through.

Yang despaired for a second before an idea came to her. "Mom, just make a portal and get us out of here."

"I can't. My semblance only works with my sword." Raven replied. Yang let out a weary sigh. She supposed that would have been too easy.

"Fine. Look around. There has to be something we can use." The three split up, and it took a few minutes of searching before Yang found something. There was a small red button in the corner. She pushed it and heard a mechanical whir above her. She looked up to see that a small window had opened above her head. It was way too small for a person to get through it, but it looked like there was enough room for a small bird.

"If you go through there, are you going to come back for us?" Yang asked as her parents walked over to her.

"Of course. I promise." Raven said. She leapt up, and suddenly a bird was flying through the small window. Yang turned to her dad.

"She'll come back, right?" Yang asked hesitantly. Tai shrugged.

"Definitely." He said. They started walking towards the door. "Well, probably." They reached the door, and Yang leaned up against the wall. "At least 50/50."

Before Yang could say anything, the door creaked open and she turned to see Raven standing there. "See? Easy as that." Yang leapt over at her mom and pulled her into a hug. Raven started stroking her hair. "I promised, didn't I?"

Tai came out and put an arm on each of them. "I love you both so much." He dropped to one knee. "Raven, will you marry me again?" Raven pulled away from Yang and reached under her clothes to pull out a chain. On it was a diamond ring.

"Of course. I've kept this by my heart ever since I left. I never stopped loving you both." Tai stood up and they embraced, and Yang stepped back in to wrap her arms around both of them.

"Let's be a family again and stay together forever. Everything is going to be perfect from now on, I know it. This little situation has resolved every problem we've ever had, and whoever came up with it is a mastermind of genu-"

/

"Ruby, that will never work." Weiss said, rudely interrupting her right before she finished detailing the plan. But Ruby wasn't about to let her partner's doubt rain on something so perfect.

"Of course it will! Raven staying here is proof she's trying, but both her and Yang have too many trust issues to solve on their own. Working together is all they need to fully open up to each other and become a family again." Ruby replied enthusiastically.

"No, it's not. You're much more likely to piss them off than anything. And I'm fairly certain Raven's semblance doesn't actually work that way. They'll get out of the chairs and then teleport out without resolving anything."

"I just want them to work through everything. Is that so wrong?"

"Of course not, but this isn't the way to do it." Weiss said gently.

"You're right. I was being ridiculous. " Ruby lied. Weiss gave her a warm smile.

"I know. We'll think of something together. Now, I have a surprise which might cheer you up. Let me go grab it." Ruby nodded, and Weiss left their room. She gave her a minute head start before running out the door. She kept going until she found Yang.

"Hey Yang. I made us some cookies. Would you like one?"

"Sure."

"Great! They're in the kitchen. I made them with a special ingredient that I'm sure you'll love." She turned around and heard Yang fall into place behind her. "By the way, do you know where Dad and Raven went?"


	20. Birthday Suit

**Prompt: It's Blake's B-day and she celebrates it the only rational way possible when your life is a train-wreck, getting drunk.**

When Blake woke up, she had a pounding headache and absolutely no idea where she was or how she got there. She tried to pull together memories of last night but found that all she could account for was the beginning of the night. She remembered being dragged out of her room by her teammates to celebrate her birthday, a short dinner before she was forced into a nearby club, and Yang starting to order shots for them at the bar. Her memories stopped short right after Yang gave her a glowing green drink that looked more radioactive than tasty. Everything between then and now was a blank spot.

Pulling together her memories did at least help her solve where she had slept. Before going out, Yang mentioned something about a house where they could sleep after the club. That realization started to relax her until she heard a noise that sent a spike of panic through her. She heard someone shifting in the bed next to her at the same time she realized that under the covers she was completely naked. She leapt out of the bed in shock and looked over to see a tragedy. Her excellent night vision could make out perfectly the sleeping face of one Ruby Rose. And that was very, very bad considering the promise she had made herself.

She realized her crush on Ruby months ago but had decided to never act on it. The last time she got involved with a friend, it ended up an utter disaster that left a wound so deep she sometimes thought it would never heal. Plus, even if she didn't have previous baggage, she knew Ruby didn't like women. She had an excellent sense for those things, honed by years of going out with Ilia trying to find her a boyfriend. By the time she left the White Fang, she could tell if a woman was going to end up hitting on them when they walked through the door. Blake never felt any attraction to them or any woman until coming to Beacon and falling for Ruby. It had been surprisingly easy to accept her new feelings, but that had only made it more difficult when she realized a relationship with her wasn't possible. Even now, whatever happened last night must have been a drunken mistake for Ruby. It couldn't possibly mean anything more than that.

But apparently Drunk Blake wasn't as willingly to accept that reality as her. Drunk Blake idiotically decided to explore her feelings by doing who-knows-what with Ruby. Whatever it was, it ended with the two of them sharing a bed naked. And Blake could tell Ruby was as naked as her. The covers stopped Blake from seeing her whole body, but the mix of her clothes with Ruby's clothes, a red bra, and a pair of patterned panties showed that pretty clearly.

Maybe it wasn't so bad. It was very hot in the room, so it was possible they were trying their best to cool down. Or maybe they stripped because they wanted to look at another beautiful woman, and nothing more happened between them. If she told herself those admittedly comforting lies enough times, she might even start to believe it. But right now, all she believed was that Yang was going to kill her, if Blake didn't save her the trouble and die of embarrassment beforehand. The only thing she could take solace in was the fact that Ruby had been drinking beside her. Not nearly as heavily as her, but maybe that changed after Blake's memory disappeared. It was entirely possible that Ruby's memory would be as blank as hers. It wasn't much of a hope to grasp, but realistically it was the best outcome for her so she grabbed it as tightly as possible. Of course, that would end if Ruby woke up to see Blake nude. As the thought crossed her mind, she suddenly realized she had been staring at Ruby. She turned around and started dressing as quickly and quietly as possible. She had to keep averting her eyes from the bed as she did. She tried to tell herself that it was to check to see if Ruby woke up, but an unwelcome voice in her head whispered that she was really hoping she'd shift a little more in bed and move the covers enough to get a small glimpse. Blake did her best to ignore it, but it was annoyingly persistent.

As soon as she was dressed, she quietly slipped out the door. Her immediate goal was piecing together last night from her team while avoiding any mentions about this morning. Weiss or Yang would know if Ruby drank enough for Blake to escape this situation without ruining their friendship.

The hallway outside had two more rooms with closed doors. She figured her teammates each took one but didn't have the slightest clue which one slept where. She picked one at random and knocked on the door. It only took a few seconds for her to hear slow movement towards the door, and Yang soon opened it. Or partially opened it, at least. The crack in the door was just big enough for Yang to poke her head into the space.

"And how's my partner feeling this morning?" Yang asked in a chipper tone. Blake sent an annoyed glare at her in reply. Yang had the most incredible alcohol tolerance of anyone she had ever met. She had been matching Blake drink for drink, at least as much as Blake remembered, but she sounded as if she hadn't had a sip of alcohol last night. It was incredibly unfair.

Yang took in her look and laughed. "That bad, huh? You should go back to sleep."

"I need your help with something first. Can I come in?" She asked. She expected Yang to open the door immediately, but instead she shook her head.

"Nope. I'm not dressed, and I'm not planning on putting anything on. We can talk like this if you need something." Everything really seemed to be breaking against her today, but it's not like she could insist Yang let her in when she was the one asking for a favor.

"I'm thinking through last night, but I can't remember anything after that green drink you bought everyone. What happened next?"

"Well, we finally got you onto the dance floor after you finished your drink. That was fun, but I got distracted and lost you guys. I came here shortly afterwards. No idea what happened after I left. You'll have to ask Ruby or Weiss about it." Yang said. Blake sighed. She was disappointed at how unhelpful she was, but then Blake realized something was off about Yang. Her tone was entirely too smug for that to be the whole story. Acting on a hunch, she pushed hard against the door. Yang was too strong for her to move it much, but she got it open far enough to see two distinctive pairs of shoes on the floor.

"Really, Yang?"

"What?"

"They tried to kill you!" Blake shouted.

Yang laughed again. "That was years ago. We got over it." Yang lowered her voice so only Blake could possibly hear her. "It's on the bucket list, Blake."

"You're completely unbelievable."

"Thanks."

"Not a compliment."

Yang was about to say something in reply but was interrupted by someone loudly clearing their throat in the room. She gave a sheepish grin. "Speaking of, it's time to get back to it. Good luck." Yang practically slammed the door in her face, and she could hear her run over to her waiting twins. She quickly left before she could hear anything else and moved to knock on Weiss' room. It took a minute of her pounding on it for Weiss to open the door with her familiar look of irritation. Weiss looked exactly as bad as Blake felt, and for some reason she found that incredibly comforting.

"What could you possibly want this early?" Weiss snapped at her.

"I can't remember what happened last night. Yang mentioned something about me dancing before she left. Can you tell me what happened next?"

"I'm not really sure. I left a little after Yang. You were grinding against Ruby so much that it was getting too uncomfortable."

Blake was utterly mortified. It was fairly obvious something happened between them based off how she woke up, but it happening in public was even worse than she expected. "Please tell me she was at least as drunk as me." Blake said. There was a quiet desperation under her voice that Weiss couldn't possibly have missed.

"Not at that point. She only had a few drinks the entire time I was there."

"Was she enjoying it?" Blake blurted out. She felt a flash of embarrassment at the question, but she also knew she couldn't live without knowing the answer.

"Ask her yourself." Weiss said before shutting the door. Blake got the sudden sense of a presence behind her and turned to see Ruby standing there. She jumped back in surprise and almost smacked straight into the door.

"Good morning Blake. Are you feeling any better?" Ruby asked sincerely. She sounded so worried that Blake, despite everything, couldn't keep a small smile from coming to her face.

"'Mostly. I'd feel better if I knew what happened last night." She replied. Ruby laughed merrily.

"Not much. We danced for about an hour before you started getting too wobbly to walk straight. I took you back here and helped you get settled in my room. I didn't want to leave you alone, so I just slept in the bed with you."

"But why weren't we wearing clothes?" Blake asked.

"Well, you said you were hot and stripped before I could stop you. Then almost immediately passed out on the bed. I let you stay under the covers because I didn't feel comfortable dressing you like that."

"What about you?"

"I was wearing pajamas, thank you very much. I assume you saw my clothes on the ground?" Blake nodded. "That was the bag of clothes for today, remember? You dumped it out, and I didn't really want to pick it up last night." Ruby finished explaining before a look of realization passed over her face. "Wait, what did you think happened?"

Blake felt herself blush furiously. "I, um, uh..." She stammered. A look of shock appeared on Ruby's face that Blake might have noticed was fake if she wasn't so flustered.

"Did you think we did something naughty together?" Blake tried to respond, but all that happened was her flushing even more red. Ruby took a few steps forward and leaned over until her lips were almost brushing against Blake's ear. "Trust me. When we finally get together, it'll be a night you'll never forget." Before Blake could ever begin to process that, Ruby moved back and pulled Blake down into a kiss. As it went on the most incredible fire started burning straight through her until Ruby suddenly pulled back and smiled sweetly at her.

"I'll go get us some tea, and then we'll talk." She blurred backwards, and suddenly all that was left were rose petals slowly floating to the ground. Blake breathed in deep the soft scent of roses and smiled. She had just gotten the greatest birthday gift she could ever have imagined. She wasn't entirely sure what the future held for her and Ruby, but she couldn't wait to find out.


	21. An Unexpected Ally

Neo sat in the shadows of the alley and waited for her targets to exit the warehouse. They were incredibly late, and she was getting very annoyed. Roman had tried to school patience into her for years, but it never seemed to stick. She understood its importance, but the practical part of it eluded her. Right now, it was taking all of her self-control to avoid charging through the warehouse and hunting them down, and she wasn't sure how much longer that would hold.

She remained outside for a while, and right before her patience ran out, she heard a patter at the end of the alley that kept her in the shadows. She looked over to see what was causing the noise, and when she saw it, she barely stopped herself from running towards it. Prowling down the alley was the most adorable little dog she had ever seen. She loved dogs, but Roman always insisted they could never actually own one. He claimed it would tie them down too much, and Neo had known deep down he was right. So she had swallowed her desire and accepted a dog less life.

But maybe it didn't have to be like that anymore. Maybe, after all this was over, she could finally get a dog. She could settle down somewhere quiet with a nice house, her cute dog, and Cinder's head on a pike outside her window. It was one of the only peaceful endings she had imagined since Roman's death, and she let herself bask in it until the door opened and her targets walked out. Three White Fang members, hidden by the masks but identifiable by the fox ears on their heads. They were supposedly among the ones who had helped smuggle Cinder somewhere after the Fall of Beacon. It took her months to track them down, but they were finally here to tell her where that poisonous woman slithered to next. And they would tell her, one way or another. She had gotten very, very good at that since she began her hunt.

She used her semblance to hide herself as she walked towards them, but as soon as she was about ten feet away, they all spun and raised their swords. She dropped her illusion and sprinted forward. Her semblance was usually great for sneaking up on people, but it did little to help her against the sharp hearing of Faunus. She would have to do this the hard way. Which, fortunately for her, also happened to be the fun way. They all raised their swords and slashed at her when they got close, but a simple illusion put her a few feet to the right of where they aimed. She kicked the legs out from the nearest one, hooked her umbrella around the middle Faunus and yanked out his sword, and rolled under the slash of the final one. A flick of the umbrella raised his sword out of position, and a smash to the face with the hilt sent him falling to the ground. She spun around and kicked the remaining Faunus hard in the chest, and he flew into the wall with a satisfying crunch and slowly slid to the ground.

She looked at the two conscious Faunus writhing on the ground in pain and sighed. Amateur hour made the fight so much less enjoyable. Although everything seemed less enjoyable these dark, dark days. A quick kick to both of their temples knocked them out, and she leaned down and grabbed them by their shirts. Dragging them to her waiting car would be a hassle, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She had only gotten them a few feet before she heard a growl and spun around to see a White Fang member pointing a gun straight at her. With her hands full, she knew she couldn't possibly move fast enough to avoid the first shot. She would simply have to hope she could withstand it. She was an excellent fighter, but her style deliberately avoided taking hits because her aura was as fragile as her illusions. She gave herself even odds of surviving it.

But, before he could fire, a black blur leapt off the ground and smashed into the Faunus. The shot went wide before the gun was knocked out of his hands. Neo sprinted over, and before he could regain his gun, he joined his comrades in unconsciousness. Or he died. Neo wasn't sure exactly how hard she kicked, and she didn't care enough to check.

She did lean down and scratch the ears of her savior. He sat on the ground and smiled up adorably at her as she did it. Neo took one hand to grab her scroll out of her pocket and type a message. She knew he wouldn't understand it, but maybe the gesture would come across. "Thanks for the help. You're a very good dog." She typed. She gave him a few final scratches before starting to stand up, but before she got all the way up, he jumped and snatched the scroll out of her hands. He dropped I it to the ground, but before she could move to take it back, he put his little paws on it and started typing something out. She stopped out of sheer surprise before waiting for him to finish out of pure curiosity.

"Hello. You're Neo, correct? You're looking for Cinder?" He typed. She nodded, still a little in shock that the dog could not only type but also somehow knew her. "She's going to Haven Academy. Take me with you, and I'll show you where she'll strike next." Neo couldn't talk, but she figured if she could she would be struck silent right now. She made an effort to restart her brain and thought through his words. The dog, incredibly, made sense. Beacon proved Cinder's group was targeting Huntsman Academies. Haven would be a good place to strike next. She would still interrogate her new prisoners, but she already suspected they would confirm the dog's words.

She nodded her agreement to his proposal and held out her hand for her scroll back. Once he gave it to her, she typed out a new message. "First you need to tell me how you know this. And what exactly are you?" She handed him back the scroll and waited.

"I'm not just a normal dog. It's my sworn duty to protect the kingdoms." He typed. "My name is Ozwei."

 **Prompt: Instead of Oscar Ozpin is reincarnated into someone else**


	22. Weiss Schnee: Ghost Spy

**Prompt: Weiss decides she wants to be someone else, just for a day. She gets way more than she bargains for**

 **Sequel to Monster Squad**

Weiss wasn't hiding from her team, she was just going for a walk. Sure, it had the added benefit of keeping her from a certain irritating blonde, but that wasn't the reason. She was only doing it because it was a lovely Saturday, and she didn't want to ruin it with terrible jokes first thing in the morning. And she knew Yang wouldn't be able to stop herself from laughing at the situation, despite the fact that none of it was her fault. Weiss didn't ask to be cursed to die and come back every few weeks. She didn't want to go through the whole experience of slowly rematerializing throughout the day. She certainly didn't have full control over when the curse caught up to her.

Considering her unpredictable condition, Weiss was rather proud of how well she handled it. Usually she managed to die heroically in battle, or at least be useful as a meal to one of her predatory teammates. Unfortunately, sometimes she couldn't stop it from happening on things more ordinary and embarrassing. She had suffered through many different kinds of deaths, but until this morning she thought nothing would be worse than the time she choked during dinner in front of the whole school.

That was before she slipped in the shower and broke her neck. She had almost lost it before she realized that the noise somehow didn't wake up any of her teammates. She had at least managed to carefully wrap the shower curtain around herself before she heard Yang begin waking up. Mostly naked wasn't that much better than completely naked, but she would take what she could get. She had quickly left before Yang had entered the bathroom. She doubted that slight dignity would do anything to stop Yang from mocking her, and she couldn't deal with an entire day of jokes when she couldn't retaliate. Especially since Yang would insist on using the G-word, despite Weiss' numerous pleas for her to stop. There was nothing that bothered her more than that word. She was alive 95% of the time. Just because she was slightly-less-than-alive the other 5% didn't make her a ghost.

Weiss was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't see anyone until she felt a slight shock as she ran into them. There was a tugging sensation, like her feet were caught in a vacuum cleaner, and she heard a loud gasp as she took control of the person's body.

"Something wrong, Emerald?" She recognized the voice as Mercury, one of the new transfer students from Haven. "We need to get out of here before anyone else wakes up."

Weiss looked at him and was right about to explain what was going on when she saw what he was carrying. He had a black mace in one hand and two daggers in the other. She felt a weight in both of "her" hands and looked down to see she was carrying a bronze sword and a halberd. She instantly recognized all of them as Team CRDL's weapons.

"No, I'm good. Let's go." She said in Emerald's voice. No matter how many times she possessed people, it never stopped being disorienting to hear her words come out in someone else's voice. He shrugged and kept walking, and she followed him as they walked towards the exit. It felt wrong to stay in Emerald like this, but Weiss felt like she didn't have much of a choice.

Accidentally possessing other people was something that had happened occasionally when she was growing up. She was almost impossible to see for the first few hours after she died, and if she wasn't paying attention it was easy to collide with someone and get sucked into them. It had taken her a few times of being stuck in control of someone else for hours before she learned the ability to leave at will. The possession always felt wrong to her, and she hadn't stayed in someone longer than a few minutes for years. Normally she would never do this, but this situation was far from normal. Because, while Team CRDL were generally pretty subpar Huntsman, like all Huntsman they were incredibly possessive of their weapons. If Mercury and Emerald were taking them, that could only mean that they had done something to CRDL. This accident gave her a golden opportunity to find out what happened that she couldn't pass up. She could use Emerald to find the truth, and when she was done Emerald would wake up with no memory of what had happened since Weiss possessed her. It wasn't an ideal situation, but she would make it work.

They left Beacon and started walking into the forest, and as they went deeper Weiss began to get more and more worried. She could stay in control for most of the day, but as soon as her body would normally have rematerialized, she would pop out of Emerald. If they got too far from Beacon for her to return, she would be left weaponless in the middle of a dangerous forest. She was starting to consider leaving Emerald and returning to get more help from Beacon when they reached a waterfall. Mercury started walking along the pond towards its base, and once they got close enough Weiss could see a small cave entrance hidden behind the water. They entered the cave, and once her eyes adjusted to the lower light inside of the cave she froze. The entire place was covered in massive spider webs. They stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and Weiss felt her stomach drop out as she suddenly realized that she was much more out of her depth than she had thought.

"Excellent work. I trust nobody saw you?" Cinder said as she walked towards the entrance. Weiss looked and saw that, however Cinder might normally appear, she wasn't human. Her front still looked the same, but the massive spider legs sprouting from her back destroyed any illusion of humanity.

"Of course not. We got all their weapons and left the note on his bed. Everyone will think they foolishly ran off to go hunt Grimm on their own and died in the forest."

"Good. It's so much easier to really savor them when nobody's looking." Cinder turned around before speaking again. "Hear that? We'll get to spend ever so long together now. Aren't you happy for us?" Weiss squinted, and she could just barely make out who Cinder was addressing. Trapped on the back of the cave, almost completely wrapped in webs, were Team CRDL. They weren't moving, and she couldn't tell from here whether they were even alive.

"Secure the weapons back there and bring me their leader. He made me so many promises back at Beacon, and I can't wait to collect on them." Weiss wasn't entirely sure what she meant, but from the tone it couldn't mean anything good. Mercury started walking towards the back, and she followed him while coming up with a plan. Now that she knew what was going on, she could leave Emerald and go report to Beacon, but she wasn't sure that was the best idea. If they figured out something happened from Emerald's lack of memory, they could easily pack everything up and flee well before Weiss could return here with help. It was the safest option for her, but she couldn't abandon CRDL.

That meant she would have to fight them, but that would also be problematic. On her own, Weiss was completely helpless. If she had to fight, she would be forced to do it through Emerald. However, trying to fight in someone else's body, with someone else's weapons, was a losing prospect. What she needed was a sucker punch, some way to quickly take them out of commission and get back to Beacon before they could recover. She went over her assets in her head. She had plenty of available weapons, but her lack of familiarity with them would get her killed. She had her semblance, but that would be of limited use without her weapon. It took her a few seconds of thought, but when she finally got it a small smile lit up her face. Mercury was holding her salvation in his hands. All she needed to do was get him to drop it. Weiss waited until they reached the back of the cave to put her plan in action. "Take him back to Cinder. I'll take care of the weapons." She said. Mercury looked back at her and shrugged.

"Sure, if that's what you want. Come on, dinner, let's go." Mercury said. He tossed their weapons onto the floor before pulling a small dagger from behind his back and approaching one of the mass of webs. Now that Weiss was closer, she could see through the dim light that their entire team was awake. They were wrapped up too tight to move, but their eyes followed Mercury as he approached them. As he started cutting Cardin loose, she slowly started sticking the weapons into webs. She had only put in the sword and the mace when Cardin was ripped free and Mercury started back towards the front. Weiss gave it a few seconds before rushing to the front of the webs.

"I'm going to get you out of here, but you need to do exactly what I say. Understood?" She whispered. They were wrapped too tight to move, but she took their blinks as a silent agreement. "I'm cutting you free now, but don't move until I tell you."

She started cutting the webs, focusing on Russel's hands first. As soon as his arm was free to move, she passed him one of his daggers and moved on to the others. She was mostly done with Sky when she heard Cardin begin yelling in pain, and she started to move faster. She didn't like the man, but he didn't deserve being slowly eaten by these things. His screams cut off right before the entire rest of the team was free, but Weiss could tell from a slight whimper that he was still alive.

"Why are you helping us?" Sky asked as soon as he was free.

"It's complicated. I'll tell you later." She whispered back. His face twisted in annoyance, and Weiss was worried the idiot might ruin everything by making a scene before a hand clamped down on his shoulder and his face calmed down

"What's the plan, then?" Russel asked.

"I walk up there while you grab your weapons from the back. I'm going to take this and get rid of them." She held up Russel's other dagger. The actual blade wasn't useful to her, but the hilt was something else. Like Myrtenaster, it had a ring of Dust cartridges on it. While she had no doubt it was vastly inferior, she could still use the Dust in there to help them escape. "Then you cut down Cardin, and we run for Beacon." They nodded, and she turned and walked towards the front of the cave. Once she got close enough, she saw that Cardin was strung up to the ceiling with webs while Mercury and Cinder were standing in front of him. There was blood smeared across both their lips.

"What took you so long?" Cinder demanded.

"I'm sorry, I was… Do you hear someone coming?" Weiss asked before sprinting towards the cave entrance. She could hear both Cinder and Mercury instantly start running after her. She slowed down enough that they were right on her heels, and as soon as she took a few steps out of the cave she quickly spun around and shoved them towards the pool. "Emerald's" betrayal was so unexpected that neither of them reacted fast enough to avoid being plunged into the water, and a second later she used ice Dust to freeze the whole thing solid. Her heart pounding, she looked to see that both her targets were out of commission. Mercury was mostly buried in the pool, and his closed eyes showed he was knocked unconscious from the impact. Cinder was equally helpless but was very clearly still awake. She was frozen solid in the waterfall stream, but her open eyes burned with rage.

"Come on, hurry up!" Weiss yelled back into the cave. It only took a minute for Team CRDL to come running out, but that was long enough for a slight red glow to appear around Cinder's body. Her ice trap clearly wouldn't keep Cinder in check for long. She turned and took off with CRDL back towards Beacon. She knew Cinder and Mercury would get free before anyone could get here to arrest them, but Cinder was too dangerous to face without her own body and Myrtenaster.

Weiss would have to be content with saving CRDL today, but she knew this wasn't over. Cinder would be coming for revenge soon after she was freed. She didn't seem like the type to forgive someone who ruined her plans. Her actions today would place her in immense danger for the foreseeable future. As they ran, Weiss kept coming back to a single thought: It's going to really suck to be Emerald Sustrai tomorrow.


	23. Ilia's First Date

**Prompt: Ilia gets advice on picking up girls from Sun and/or Neptune**

As they approached the bar, Ilia's anxiety continued to grow. By the time they reached the entrance, she knew she couldn't do this tonight. "This isn't a good idea." She said. She began to back up, but before she got more than a few steps a hand clamped down on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Ilia, what did I tell you?" Neptune asked. His voice was compassionate, but it was also firm. He clearly had no intention of letting her leave without going inside.

"That I'm a good person, and I deserve to be happy." She had lost track of how many times Neptune and Sun had said that to her. It was, much like the pair who wouldn't stop saying it, utterly ridiculous and yet inexplicably endearing. It was how they had convinced her to follow them to Shade, enroll in the Academy, and follow Neptune to the bar.

"Exactly. And part of being happy is finding you love." Neptune said.

"Yes, you told me that this morning. I didn't think you meant you were bringing me to a dive bar. How am I supposed to find love in here?"

"You aren't. Love is a difficult thing to find, and you need to be prepared. First, we need to give you some confidence. That's what tonight is about."

"How so?" She asked.

"You're going to go find the hottest woman in there, go back to her place, and go at it until you both pass out from exhaustion."

"Neptune!" He took one look at the shock on her face and started laughing.

"Or just give her a kiss. Whatever you're most comfortable with. But you've got to start somewhere." Ilia sighed. Neptune probably had a point. She was almost 20 but still hadn't kissed anyone yet. Blake had been her first crush, and Ilia hadn't let the hole her departure left heal until Blake saved her in Menagerie. It was beyond time for her to do something about it. She nodded to Neptune, and they both walked into the building. It was fairly crowded, and the two went to sit at one corner of the bar.

"Try to find a woman sitting by herself. You're not ready to approach a group." Neptune said. He ordered two drinks as Ilia looked around. There were only a handful of women she could see, and she tried to figure out which one she would feel most comfortable approaching. It took her a while to decide on one. She was sitting alone at a booth nursing a mostly empty drink wearing a cute black jacket with a stylish beret over long brown hair. There was a gentle look on her face that made her seem more approachable than anyone else there.

"At the booth." Ilia said. Neptune shot a covert glance over at her.

"Good choice. Now go over there and offer to buy her a drink."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ilia asked hesitantly. Neptune looked over and met her eyes.

"Nope, but there's only one way to find out. Just be confident in yourself." He gestured, and she reluctantly got up and walked over to the woman. She sat down at the seat across from her.

"Hey b-beautiful, can I buy you a drink?" Ilia asked. And then she immediately regretted it. Even if she hadn't stumbled over the words, she doubted that could have been more awkward. The woman looked over at her and sighed.

"Don't get me wrong, you're cute. But this is only going to end one possible way. You're going to get angry, yell at me, and storm away. Let's just skip to the end and save us both some drama." The woman said. Ilia felt embarrassment flush her face as the woman turned back to staring at her drink. She got up and turned to leave, but then she saw Neptune giving her a disapproving look. And she knew he was right. She shouldn't give up this easily. Plus, she had to admit her heart had skipped a little at being called cute.

"I think I should be the one to decide my reaction. I'm willing to take that chance."

"Fine, but I did warn you." The woman said. Her voice was a little resigned, but she did give her a small smile. Ilia decided to take that as an encouraging sign.

"So, uh, do you come here often?" Ilia asked.

"Yes." The woman said. And then took another sip and said nothing else. Ilia panicked for a second before coming up with something Neptune had said on the walk here. Compliments always work.

"I like your hat." Ilia said the first thing that came to mind before blushing as she realized how lame that sounded. The woman, however, just laughed.

"New at this, I take it?" Ilia nodded. "Why don't you start with a name?"

"Oh, right. I'm Ilia."

"Velvet. So, Ilia, what brings you to Shade?" Velvet asked.

"I enrolled in the academy this morning."

"Oh. Well maybe I'll see you around occasionally." Velvet gave a wry smile. "Not that my team spends much time there anymore."

"You're a Huntress?"

"Might as well be these days. Lots of work and not enough hands to do them. Upper year students are essentially Huntsman without badges."

"Can you tell me a little about it here?" Ilia asked. Velvet nodded and began telling her all about Shade. Ilia mostly sat there and listened. On the way here she had feared that this would be incredibly awkward but talking to Velvet was easy. There was something about the woman that Ilia found incredibly relaxing.

"Why did you want to become a Huntress?" Velvet asked once she finished.

Images passed through her mind. Sun collapsing to the ground after she stabbed him, Ghira holding that beam above her head to stop her from being crushed, Blake smiling at her. "For my past. To make up for what I've done, for what I tried to do." She said. She was worried Velvet might question her about that, but she let it pass without comment. "What about you?"

"A childhood dream. When I was young, a Huntress came to our village for a few months. She was the coolest person I had ever met. I wanted to be just like her. I'm sure it would have faded after she left if my village had left it alone. But when I told people my dream, they told me to give it up. They said that I couldn't be strong enough, that I couldn't be brave enough. They told me being a warrior wasn't in my nature. So I proved them wrong." Ilia would have felt bad for Velvet if not for the obvious pride in her voice. She was going to reply, but she stopped herself before anything came out. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the phrasing on that last quote bothered her.

"It wasn't in your nature?" She asked.

Velvet sighed. "Damn. Well, it's been fun, but I guess it's time to finish this." She reached up, grabbed her hat, and put it down on the table. Ilia stared in shock at the two adorable bunny ears that popped out. She looked down to meet Velvet's eyes and saw in them a look she recognized. The fear of rejection, the absolute certainty that someone was about to turn against them for simply existing. She had seen it in the eyes of so many of her brothers and sisters in the past, but that didn't make it any less heartbreaking. She smiled at Velvet, and then did something she hadn't done since the night her life changed in Atlas. In a room full of humans, she turned her entire body blue.

"Oh." Velvet said, clear surprise in her voice. "That's a new one."

"Why don't I buy us another couple of drinks?" Ilia asked. Velvet's look of surprise changed into a smile to match Ilia's own.

"I'd like that."


	24. Common Interests

**Prompt: An unexpected person inspects Crescent Rose and compliments Ruby for her weapon**

Ruby paced nervously around the room. She knew she had done everything possible to prepare herself for this incredible trial. Which unfortunately left her nothing to do with all this nervous energy except pace around the room. Blake was pretending to read something on her bed, but Ruby could tell she was nervous too. After what felt like forever, Blake's scroll finally started ringing. The sudden noise after hours of silence caused Ruby to jump a little, and she almost tripped back into the desk and ruined everything before it even started.

Blake talked quietly on her scroll for a few minutes before hanging up and getting off her bed. She looked over at Ruby and gave her a reassuring smile. "My parents are downstairs. Ruby, you really don't need to worry. I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you." She left the room, but her words didn't do much to make Ruby feel better. Weiss had said the same exact thing before her parents visited, and that turned into an unbelievable disaster. The whole day went so terribly it made her introduction to Weiss seem like they were instantly best friends in comparison. Ruby still wasn't entirely sure what some of the words the Schnees called her meant. She had decided she didn't want to know after looking up the first one.

Ruby kept pacing until the door opened and she got her first look at the Belladonnas. Ghira Belladonna came first, and his massive appearance stopped her in her tracks. He was bare-chested, and huge, and Ruby suddenly felt very small. "Hi sir. I'm, uh, Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you." She stammered. She held out her hand, and his huge hand completely engulfed it when he responded.

"Nice to meet you, Ruby." Ghira said. His deep voice did nothing to ease her trepidation, although the kind smile that appeared on his face did help a little.

"Yes, it is. Blake has told us almost nothing about you." Kali Belladonna said as she walked around her husband. Ruby felt herself begin to relax as soon as she saw her. Ghira may be intimidating, but Kali could only be described as adorable. Cute cat ears, a warm smile, and kind eyes.

"She hasn't?" Ruby asked. Kali laughed as Blake blushed beside her.

"Don't take it personally. Getting her to talk to us about anything is like pulling teeth."

"Mom!" Blake said.

"It's the truth. You're too quiet for your own good." Kalie said. "Now, why don't you take your father and go introduce him to the rest of your team. I want to have a talk alone with Ruby." If she had known this would happen beforehand Ruby would have been panicking right now, but after meeting the Belladonnas she suddenly wasn't that worried. Kali didn't seem like the type to ambush her. Blake gave her mom a questioning look but also started towards the door.

"Okay, sure. They should be getting something to eat." Blake and Ghira left, and Ruby was left alone with Kali.

"What did you want to talk about?" Ruby asked.

"Blake doesn't tell us much, but she did mention that weapon of yours. Mind if I see it?" Kali asked. Ruby quickly pulled Crescent Rose off her back and handed it to her. She was always happy to talk about her baby. Kali started inspecting it, and Ruby recognized the sudden light that shone in her eyes. It was the excitement of a weapons fanatic getting to go over a new weapon. Ruby felt herself break out in a wide grin. Blake has never mentioned this about her mother.

"What do you think?" Ruby asked.

"It's _so cool_." Kali whispered almost reverently. "The whole thing has such a beautiful design. The way the transformation gears double as the barrel is inspired." Ruby's grin grew wider. There were people at Beacon who admired her weapon, but that was all because it looked cool and was effective. Nobody here seemed to care that much about the mechanics behind her baby.

"Let me show you its extended form." Ruby said as she reached over and pressed the switch. Crescent Rose started transforming in Kali's hands, and as she watched in awe it extended into its full scythe form.

"Incredible. The transformation is so quick and smooth. You can transform it freely in the middle of battle like this, right?" Ruby nodded. At this point, she was almost beaming with pride. It felt good to get compliments from someone who clearly knew what they were talking about.

"Blake never mentioned you love weapons."

Kali laughed. "Of course she didn't. She's never had much interest in them beyond basic functionality. She designed most of Gambol Shroud by herself, but I was the one who adapted it to let her use Dust with her shadow clones. She kept saying it was pointless since the pure Dust needed for it is so rare, but I insisted. It doesn't really matter if she almost never uses it."

"As long as she can use it, and it looks cool." Ruby finished. Kali smiled at her.

"Exactly! It's so nice to finally have someone who understands that. Ghira is as uninterested as Blake. You have no idea how long I've tried to convince him to use a weapon, but the man refuses to fight with anything but his claws. He can't see the point of adding in a weapon."

"But you've designed something for him?" Ruby asked. She already knew the answer would be yes. She went through a similar experience with her father multiple times every year. His refusal to let her give him an upgrade didn't stop her from drawing up dozens of different designs.

"Not as extensive as I usually prefer, but when your husband likes ripping enemies apart with his bare hands you need to work with what you've got." Kali said as she handed her scroll to Ruby. She started scrolling down and seeing Kali's vision. It was a pair of gloves with long metallic claws that could be extended between each knuckle. The claws were hollow and could be filled with different types of Dust. A simple flick of the wrist could turn them from freezing things on contact to making them burst into flames. A gun barrel could also be extended from the wrist for automatic fire. It wasn't anything she would have designed, but it looked quite effective.

"This looks awesome!" Ruby said. Kali's face lit up in the same happiness Ruby always felt whenever someone praised Crescent Rose.

"Exactly! Finally someone who appreciates my hard work."

"Do you have anything else?" Ruby asked excitedly. Kali gave her a sly smile.

"One more thing. A little something I developed for myself. Want to see it?" Ruby nodded, and Kali reached over to the ribbon on her left arm. She pulled it off, and Ruby stared in shock as the thing extended and started blurring around Kali. When it finally stopped, Ruby wasn't entirely sure what she was looking at. All she knew was that it was massive, and deadly, and she suddenly had a dozen new ideas for Crescent Rose.

"Do you like it?" Kali asked. Ruby nodded, speechless. "Excellent. I have a few ideas on how to do something similar with Crescent Rose. When we're done, your opponents won't know what hit them."


	25. Nora's Foolproof Plan

**Prompt: Jaune becomes interested in Nora, Ren in Pyrrha. The girls meet to try and resolve this issue.**

Pyrrha paced back and forth in her room, trying to summon up the courage for what she knew she needed to do next. No matter how much she didn't want to have the conversation, Nora deserved to know. It took a few minutes, but she finally worked up the nerve to go find her. She walked over to the door, put her hand on the handle, and then found herself stuck. She wanted to keep going, but she couldn't seem to force herself to move. After all, she needed to tell Nora, but did she need to do it right now? It could wait a few hours, right? Or a few days, or weeks, or months, or...

Pyrrha shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. She couldn't put this off. She turned the knob to leave, and then jumped back in shock as the door flew open and Nora bounded through it. "Pyrrha, there you are!" Nora shouted. She was obviously going to continue, but she stopped short with a look of surprise. "Why were you standing in front of the door?"

"I was actually going to look for you. We need to talk about something important." Pyrrha began hesitantly.

"We absolutely have something we need to talk about." Nora said.

"Nora, don't freak out, but Ren asked me on a date." Pyrrha said at the exact same time Nora said "Pyrrha, stay calm, but Jaune just asked me out."

"HE WHAT?!" Pyrrha yelled.

"WHAT?!" Nora screamed.

"You said no, right?"

"Tell me you didn't say yes!"

"Of course not!"

"I would never do that!"

"So what did you do?"

"What did you say?"

"I left him there and ran off." Pyrrha finished.

"I didn't say anything and came straight to find you." Nora finished.

"This is a disaster! What are we supposed to do?" Pyrrha asked. Nora gave it a few seconds thought before the shocked look changed to a small smile.

"This is actually the perfect opportunity! All we have to do is agree to go on the dates and then swap places."

"And how do you suggest we do that?"

"Well, we could make them wear blindfolds! No, wait, they would recognize our voices. We could hypnotize them! Actually, nobody here knows hypnosis. Oooohhh, we could dress up in each other's clothes and do each other's voices! No, no, they'd see through that eventually." Nora rambled. Pyrrha let her go through it without comment. She knew Nora well enough to know that there was no real point interrupting her when she got like this before she finished. "Oh, I've got it!" Nora turned and ran out the door. "Follow me!"

Pyrrha sighed but followed her teammate outside the dorms. They moved through Beacon's campus until they came to a small side building Pyrrha had never even noticed before. They slipped inside and went into the basement, and from there they followed a series of winding passages that all seemed to lead further downward. They finally emerged into a long room that was centered on a strange machine. Two pods that looked like they could hold people sat connected by a series of tubes.

"What is that thing?" Pyrrha asked.

"That, dear Pyrrha, is an aura transfer machine. You can use it to transfer or combine aura between two people." Nora replied.

"How do you know that? And how did you even find this place?"

"Oh, I learn about everything eventually." She said cryptically. Pyrrha was going to demand Nora actually explain herself, but Nora had such a weird expression on her face that Pyrrha stopped herself. It didn't seem worth the hassle of getting into it when it didn't really matter. What mattered was her plan.

"So you want us to use this thing to switch souls? You realize that's insane, right?"

"Is it? Ren wants to date you, Jaune wants to date me. It's the perfect opportunity!"

"It seems unnecessary. We'll both turn them down, and they'll come around eventually." Nora walked over to Pyrrha and looked her straight in the eyes.

"No, he won't. Jaune will never, ever notice how you feel about him. He'll just keep chasing other girls forever until one of them accepts him. This is the only way. We can switch, go on a few dates, and then switch back. Easy as that." Pyrrha gave it a little thought. It still sounded insane, but maybe insane was the only way to finally get together with Jaune. And sure, it was a bit manipulative, but she was sure he'd agree it was worth it once they were dating.

"We can switch back the same way, right?"

"Of course." That was the only other thing Pyrrha needed to hear. She shrugged, walked over to one of the pods, and got inside. Nora hit a switch on the machine before climbing into the other pod. The machine started buzzing, and then Pyrrha experienced the weirdest sensation of her life. It felt like she was being sucked out of herself. She felt herself being squeezed and stretched until she let out a gasp in someone else's voice. She looked down to see she was in Nora's body. She opened the pod and stepped out, still a little stunned. She had honestly half expected that Nora was making up what would happen.

The other pod opened, and she looked over at Nora to see herself climbing out. It was an incredibly bizarre feeling, but hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with it for too long. "So we go on a few dates, and then we tell them and switch back." Pyrrha said. Nora nodded.

"Right. What could go wrong?"


	26. The Demon

**Prompt: Ruby has an unexpected hobby where she is known as "The Demon". Weiss finds out why today.**

Weiss was finishing up her homework at her desk when Ruby jumped off her bed. "I'm going to Vale for the day. I'll be back tonight." Ruby said.

"What are you going to do?" Weiss asked. Ruby's excursions into Vale were becoming more and more common, and she found it hard to believe that even Ruby could spend that much time geeking out over weapons.

"I can show you if you want." Ruby said. Weiss shrugged and got up. She was almost done with her homework, and seeing what Ruby was doing might make for an interesting day. They walked down to the airfield and took a Bullhead down to Vale. Once they landed, Weiss followed Ruby until they stopped outside a rundown games shop. On the front door, there was a sign that read "The Demon takes on all challengers today! Play at your own peril!"

"You're playing a game against someone called the Demon?" Weiss asked. She knew Ruby loved board games, considering how often she dragged their team into playing them, but even for her this whole thing sounded fairly melodramatic.

"Of course not. I am the Demon!" Ruby said with a laugh. Weiss rolled her eyes at her. She should have guessed Ruby would come up with a name like that. They went into the store and down a flight of stairs into a room with a single table in the center. There was a group of about ten people sitting on bleachers set up against the far wall. As soon as they saw Ruby, the room fell silent. Ruby went to sit at the head of the table and pulled out a deck of cards.

"So, who's first?" She asked. An older man stepped forward to sit across from her, and Weiss took his seat as the match began. Weiss didn't have a clue how the card game worked, but she could tell within the first few cards that Ruby held the advantage. Each play the man seemed more and more nervous as a triumphant grin grew on Ruby's face. Finally, Ruby played four cards at once, and the man slumped down in his chair as the entire crowd around her let out a gasp. He looked like he was seconds away from crying. Apparently, everyone here took board games as seriously as Ruby. The man stood up and slowly walked away, eyes downcast in defeat, as another challenger took his place.

Each match went much like the first. Ruby easily outclassed everyone there. Their responses to their losses were all as dramatic as the first man. Some of them threw their cards on the ground, others burst into tears, and one even picked up her chair and slammed it into the table. Once the last woman shuffled off from her loss, Weiss walked over to her grinning partner.

"I don't entirely understand what happened, but it seems you're quite good at this game."

"I'm the best!" Ruby said.

"It certainly seemed like it. I'm a little surprised how poorly people reacted to losing."

"Some people just can't handle defeat. Want to go celebrate with a little snack?" Ruby asked. Weiss nodded, and they walked back up the stairs and exited the building. As soon as they walked out, Weiss froze. On the sidewalk around the building, every person who Ruby defeated was lying unconscious. Weiss immediately reached into her pocket to get her scroll for help, but Ruby grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"What are you doing? We need to get help!" Weiss said. Ruby shook her head.

"Don't bother. Nothing can help them. This is what happens to people when they lose their souls."

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked, utterly confused and more than a little alarmed. Ruby gestured down at her waist, and Weiss saw that a glass vial was hooked to her partners skirt. In it, swirling blue lights sped around and around.

"That's the point of the game. If I win, I get their soul. If they win, they get immortality."

"Ruby, you can't give people immortality!"

"Yeah, but they don't know that. And I'll never lose, so they'll never find out."

"But why would you even want souls?" Weiss asked.

"I'm saving them for a rainy day, silly! Now, let's go grab some ice cream!" Ruby said before grabbing Weiss and pulling her down the street. Weiss was too stunned at the recent revelations to even struggle. All she could do was let Ruby drag her away. As they walked, Weiss could hear the screams coming from the trapped souls in their glass prison.


	27. RWBY's Soulmates

**Prompt: Cliché soulmate AU where people are born with the first words their soulmate says to them written on their body**

Yang examined the hall as Ruby chattered excitedly beside her. She would have felt bad about ignoring her sister if she wasn't doing this for Ruby's benefit. Ruby's first few hours at Beacon might not have gone well, but all she needed was a little help. It took her a while, but she finally found the perfect person sitting alone reading. She looked friendly enough, if a little disinterested in the whole situation. Plus, she was very, very cute. Yang would probably have introduced herself even if her sister wasn't here.

"Come on, Ruby. Let's go make friends." Yang said as she stood up and pulled Ruby to her feet. She dragged her to the girl and stopped in front of her.

"Hey." Yang said to the girl.

"Hey." She replied, Yang felt her mood dampen as Ruby perked up beside her. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with this again, but it was too late for her to back out.

"Yang, those are your Words. She could be your soulmate! What do you have?" The woman held out her arm, and Yang's heart sunk at the black "Hey" written there.

"I'm Blake. Do you really believe in that stuff?"

"Yang. And no, I don't. You'll have to excuse my little sister here. She's still a bit of a child sometimes."

"You guys are being ridiculous. Everybody knows this is how it works."

"Ruby, everybody also uses the same half a dozen greetings because that's how normal people introduce themselves. This is the third time this week I've "met my soulmate". There is no destiny, Ruby. The Words are just random things that people try to make meaningful."

"No! Mine already worked."

"You're proving my point here, Rubes."

"Wait, you're already together with your soulmate?" Blake asked. Ruby nodded enthusiastically.

"Sure am! Want to see?" Yang sighed as her sister pulled down her sleeves and proudly showed off her arm. She loved Ruby, but she was undeniably a freak. She'd never heard of anyone else whose Words consisted of a picture of a scythe with "Swoosh!" written under it. "Why go through the trouble of finding a soul mate when you can build one instead?" She asked smugly.

"Oh. That's, um, different." Blake said slowly.

"She's means weird." Yang said. Ruby lightly pushed her backwards in annoyance at her familiar teasing, and when she took a step back she ran into something solid.

"Hey!" She heard from behind her. She spun around to see a rather gorgeous woman with long white hair glaring at her.

"Hey." Yang said in an awkward reply, hoping to avoid angering her. The reply caused her anger to evaporate, and Yang looked at her bared arm to see "Hey" written on there. "Is she my soulmate too, then?" Yang asked her sister. Blake jumped to her feet before Ruby could answer, and Yang could tell from the look in her eyes that she found the new woman as attractive as Yang.

"Hey." Blake said to her. "I think that makes her my soulmate now."

"No! She hasn't even spoken to you." Yang replied.

"I heard that Hey. It counts if I hear it!"

"No, it doesn't. It's the first thing said to you, not the first thing you hear."

"Same difference!" Blake said.

"Are you fighting over me?" The new woman asked. She sounded incredibly happy about the possibility, and they both nodded at her. "I'm Weiss."

"Yang."

"Blake. So who do you think is right here?" Blake asked. Weiss spent a few moments looking them up and down with hungry eyes, and Yang began to grow excited as she anticipated where this might be going.

"I think there's only one possible way to settle this, and I'm sure we can all agree we should go do it now." Weiss said. Blake and Yang both nodded as Ruby gave them a confused look.

"Do what?" Ruby asked.

"Threesome." They all answered at exactly the same time in exactly the same tone. Yang laughed in delight, winked at her shocked sister, and grabbed her two new friends to go find somewhere quiet. Maybe there was something to destiny, after all.


	28. Bumbleby’s First Date

**Prompt: Bumbleby's first date in Atlas runs into unexpected problems**

Yang smiled at Blake as she held open the restaurant door for her. Her girlfriend smiled graciously back as she walked through it, and Yang felt a thrill shoot through her at the sight. Her girlfriend, finally. After so long hiding how she felt, so much time fearing what might happen if she confessed, she was finally together with the most beautiful woman she had ever met. Blake was wearing a little black dress that showed off that beauty perfectly, and Yang admired the view as she walked behind her. She loved how she could do it openly now, and she wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. And, if Kali Belladonna was any judge of her daughter's future, that view would stay enjoyable for a very, very long time.

They walked towards the man at the front desk. He looked rather unpleasant, with a small sneer barely hidden on his face, but Yang dismissed it as meaningless. Looking unpleasant seemed to be the norm in Atlas. Everywhere they went was filled with people who could seemingly barely contain their disdain. Yang finally understood why Weiss was so arrogant when they first met. It was a testament to her character that she ever managed to become a normal person when she grew up somewhere like here.

"Can I help you?" The man asked once they reached the desk. His voice, wheezy and unpleasant, was a perfect match for his face.

"Yang, party of two." She replied with a friendly smile. Just because he wasn't being nice didn't mean Yang would be rude too. Plus, they were getting a free meal in Atlas' best restaurant thanks to Weiss' friendship with the owner. There was no reason to annoy her employees while doing it.

"Right this way." He said as he led them into the dining area. It was smaller than she expected, with only about a dozen tables, and combined with the quiet music and soft lighting it made for a cozy romantic setting. The man seated them near the back before returning to his desk. The entire time he never directly looked at either of them, another common trait in Atlas that Yang found annoying. Yang pulled out the menu and quickly saw what they would both be eating. Blake would never be able to resist the tuna, and there was a delicious steak on the menu for her. The waitress came over, wearing a similar look to the man at the front desk, and Yang was happy that they were both ready to order. The less time there was a woman sneering over them, the better.

Once she left, they could finally begin their first date. And it was more incredible than anything she had ever imagined. Yang always loved spending time with Blake but being with her like this made it so much better than anything before. The romantic atmosphere here helped set the mood perfectly, although after a few minutes Yang barely paid attention to anything around them. Blake occupied all of her attention. As they talked, Yang realized for the first time how much she loved her partner's cat ears. They were an adorable sight that Yang was so happy Blake could finally show to the world. The way they responded to her feelings was cute, but even without that the way they twitched around based off the noises in the room as they talked was fascinating. She was sure she would never tire of watching them.

The food came in what felt like no time at all, and it looked as delicious as was promised. They both tore into it, and Yang realized that their title as the best restaurant in Atlas was well deserved. She quickly finished most of it, and right as she was beginning to feel full, she heard a single word from a couple walking towards the door that caught her attention. "Disgusting", in a woman's voice filled with disdain. It sounded so out of place in such a nice restaurant that she looked up to see what they were discussing only to find the couple staring directly at Blake. At the table beyond them, she saw a man quickly look away before she could meet his eyes. Yang felt her stomach sinking as she looked around and realized that almost every table was either shooting nasty glances at them or clearly talking about them. The only table that wasn't held a lone young woman absorbed in her scroll, but the fact that the only person in the room not judging them didn't even seem aware of their existence didn't make Yang feel any better. Even their waitress was opening staring at them, contempt clear on her face.

Yang looked over at Blake to see a frown on her face and her ears flattened against her head. "They're all insulting you, aren't they? And you heard every single word." She knew the anger in her raised voice would be heard by the neighboring tables, but right now she didn't care. Blake nodded in reply. Yang felt her rage starting to grow, and it took all of her self-control not to activate her semblance. Even with her best efforts, she could feel the edges of her hair start glowing. Or, at least it was until Blake reached over and grabbed her hand. Yang looked at the tears in her girlfriend's eyes and the rage was replaced instantly by shame.

"I'm so sorry Blake. I'm being selfish."

Blake shook her head. "No, you don't get it. I'm not upset with you or them. You're sitting here, completely outraged, for how they're treating me. Not you, not us. Just me. And you know what? I'm going to the bathroom to clean this up." She gestured at the tears falling down her face. "And when I get back, you'll still be sitting here. Rightfully outraged and upset, but not having done anything terrible about it. I'll then continue my wonderful date with my amazing girlfriend." Blake smiled at her. "I can trust you, Yang. And that means everything to me." She got up from the table, and Yang watched thoughtfully as she walked away. She was still upset about the other people's discrimination, but Blake's words helped her put it aside. Other people's thoughts on their relationship weren't important. They had each other, and that's all that really mattered.

Yang sat there quietly for a few minutes before she heard a ring from her scroll. She pulled it out of her pocket to see a message from Blake. "Look behind you." It said. She glanced back to see Blake waiting by the door waving at her.

"Are you coming back?" Yang messaged her.

"I'm done with dinner, and hungry for something else. Race you back to the apartment? Winner gets to pick what happens first." Yang turned around as soon as she finished reading to see Blake wink at her before running out the door. She shot up from the table and started sprinting after her. Blake might have a head start, but there was no way Yang was going to let herself lose this competition.

As Yang disappeared out the door, their waitress breathed a sigh of relief as she went to clean their table. She was glad the disgusting pair was finally gone, and she got rid of everything as fast as possible. Once she finished, she quickly walked to the bathroom, careful to avoid touching anything. She saw two other tables she should clean on the way, one from that perfectly normal couple and the other from that young woman, but she didn't want to get anything else contaminated. As she entered the bathroom and walked towards the sinks, her leg kicked something solid. Suddenly, the view in front of her shattered into tiny pieces. She screamed in horror and ran out the bathroom door. The space that moments ago appeared empty was now clearly occupied. Left alone on the floor, handcuffed to a sink, was an unconscious Blake Belladonna.


	29. Full Moon Problems

**Prompt: A character is forced to transform into Pyrrha on a full moon night**

 **This story is set 5 years after Nora's Foolproof Plan.**

Nora pulled Ren close and kissed him, enjoying the sensation of their bodies pressed up against each other. She could feel his passion though the contact, and she savored it for as long as she could before she pulled away. She could feel the urge pushing closer to the surface, and she didn't want to be here when she changed. She turned to go without a word. At this point, she didn't need to say anything to Ren. He knew what he meant to her, and she knew he would be waiting for her when she returned. She was almost to the door when Neo ran over and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Don't worry, I'll be back in two weeks. Pyrrha can play with you until then. She's almost as good as me." Nora winked at her and gently pushed her away. She could feel Pyrrha's annoyance at the comment, but that didn't make it any less true. Ren said she and Neo had complementary insanities, and he would know better than anyone. Pyrrha might not like to hear it, but if Nora learned anything these past few years it was that telling the truth was vital, even if it hurt sometimes.

She started running once she left their house, and she kept up a steady pace until she reached the top of her favorite hill. It provided a beautiful view of Vale, and Nora enjoyed having it as her last free sight for the next few weeks. She sat down at the top and tried to kill the trepidation she felt as she enjoyed the sparkling view below her. Even after a year of this curse, she still wasn't used to it. The first ten days were easy because she spent them completely unconscious. It was like a nice long coma that made a week and a half pass in an instant. The last four days were the bad part. She was awake the entire time but without any control. All she could do was watch and think as someone else moved her body around. And it felt like her body, even though it was Pyrrha's. After everything that happened between them, neither one could really make the distinction anymore. She simply had to deal with Pyrrha making all of her decisions for her for days and live with all the sensations that came with them. Being forced to taste and smell things she disliked was bad enough, but the visuals were the worst part. She'd seen, and felt, way more of Jaune than she would ever have wanted.

Fortunately, the full moon hitting its peak interrupted her darker thoughts. She took a deep breath as she felt the change begin. There sudden pressure all around her, and it felt as if she was being squeezed out of her own body. She could feel herself twisting and contracting, but before any of the pain reached her, she passed out into blissful darkness.

Pyrrha woke up sitting on the usual hill. She waited for the wave of disorientation to pass before standing and starting towards Vale. She wanted to sprint back to go see Jaune, but she had things to do before she went home. The length of the transformation process varied every time so she had several hours before anyone would become suspicious. She started off at a steady jog until she reached a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. She entered a code on the door and stepped in to see Winter Schnee waiting for her with an annoyed expression.

"You're late." She said.

"You know I can't control the timing. We should still have an hour before I need to leave. That's plenty of time to run the tests." Pyrrha replied with a shrug.

"Barely." She snapped back. "Don't let it happen again." Pyrrha was going to respond, but she stopped herself. It might not be a fair criticism, but it wasn't worth getting into an argument with Winter. She gave her a few more seconds of an icy blue glare before starting back into the building. Pyrrha followed her until they reached a laboratory near the back. A man in a lab coat was sitting on a stool with a screwdriver and some unknown contraption on his lap. He looked up when he heard the door open and smiled at them.

"Ah, Miss Nikos. Welcome back. Are you ready to begin?" He asked. Pyrrha gave him a matching smile.

"Sure, Dr. Weller." She said as moved towards the pod set up in the middle of the lab. She laid down on it and tried not to flinch as metal bars sprang up and grasped the sides of her head. The glass ceiling of the pod slowly closed down around her, and as soon as it locked an image of a dog popped up on the screen in front of her. Pyrrha held the thought of a dog in her mind for a few seconds before the picture switched to that of a car, and she switched her thoughts to that. The image switched again a few seconds later and her mind followed it. She knew the image would keep switching every five seconds until she was pulled out. The test was monotonous, but Dr. Weller insisted it was vital for the procedure. She didn't entirely understand the process, but apparently mapping the images helped form a cohesive image of her mind.

The test continued for an exhaustive amount of time before finally the screen went blank and the pod started to open. She waited to be fully free before swinging over the side of the bed. "So, how did I do?" She asked.

"We're almost there. One, maybe two more sessions before we have your whole mind mapped out. As long as everything keeps to the schedule, we'll be ready for the procedure next month."

"And the body?" She asked.

"See for yourself." Dr. Weller pointed to one side of the room, and Pyrrha walked over until she saw it. Standing on a base was a robotic body that looked exactly like her. Most people would probably find it unsettling to see an exact copy of themselves, but Pyrrha was used to it by now. "Top of the line Atlas tech combined with a few unique improvements from me. It's probably better than a human body, honestly." It wasn't, though. Pyrrha knew that, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Living as a robot was better than only getting to live half of her life. Her team wouldn't be happy about it at first, but she knew they would come around eventually.

"It looks good. Thank you."

"You should wait to thank me until we see if the separation actually works. After all, you two are a rather unique case. I'll try my best, but at the end of the day there's no telling what might go wrong."


	30. Time Served

**Prompt: Whilst imprisoned during Volume 3, Roman passes the time by screwing the guards assigned to his cell, as well as anyone else who drops by.**

Neo could barely stop herself from sprinting through the airship as she went to free her partner. She missed him dearly but running would give away her disguise too quickly. She made her way towards the prisoner quarters at a tortuously slow pace until she rounded a corner and saw an unconscious Atlesian officer slumped against the wall. Neo didn't care about her but strolling right by without checking would reveal her identity. Plus, she couldn't deny she was a little curious. She ran closer until she saw that the officer wasn't actually unconscious. She was staring ahead, breathing heavily and clearly not at all aware of the world around her. As soon as Neo saw that she grew instantly annoyed. She recognized that look from way too many of these rescues. She started sprinting towards the cells now, knowing that there was no point in trying to hide.

She ran until she reached his cell and quickly opened it to see a familiar sight. Various pieces of military uniforms that were clearly from at least half a dozen people were scattered across the floor. Instead of a normal bed, there was a comfy looking queen that took up most of the cell with two people on it. One was Roman, sound asleep with his hands cuffed to the headboard. The other was a woman with tussled long white hair that looked vaguely familiar. She was passed out with a contented smile on her face, and Neo dismissed her immediately. She wasn't getting up anytime soon. She walked over to her partner and smacked him in the face.

"Ow!" He yelled as he jerked awake. His instinctive movement only smashed his arms against the bed, and he let out a hiss of pain. As much as Neo loved him, it was incredibly satisfying to hear. He deserved it after doing this to her again. She pulled her scroll out of her pocket.

"Every time!" She typed.

"Not every time!" He replied indignantly.

"Menagerie."

Roman shrugged. "I'd never been with a Faunus before. Nothing wrong with a little curiosity."

"That Mistral courthouse."

"Okay, but I helped save that relationship. Remember how beautiful their wedding was?"

"The Spiders den."

"That one wasn't my fault. It was a group thing, I had to join in. I didn't do anything in Atlas, remember?"

"That's because I rescued you within an hour. And I still walked in when that guard was in the middle of stripping."

Roman gave her a rueful grin. "Fine, maybe you have a point. I don't have good impulse control."

"And?" She typed expectantly.

"And I don't deserve a partner like you."

"That's right."

"I know what'll cheer you up. After we're done here, we'll go get some ice cream." She felt her annoyance start to melt, but she kept it off her face. She wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily.

"You can't buy your way back into my good graces with ice cream."

"And then we can go on a killing spree." She ran over and threw her arms around her partner, his excesses forgiven again. It was too hard to stay mad at Roman when nobody knew her quite like him. "A short one, though. Four people, tops." Neo smiled. Four people now meant she'd get at least seven or eight before it was over.

"Okay." She typed as she pulled back. She grabbed his arm and started tugging him out the door. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could go celebrate. Neo could already tell that tonight was going to be so much fun.


	31. Animal Attack

**Prompt: Ozpin decides to give Team RWBY the ability to turn into animals. Weiss is NOT happy with what was picked for her.**

Weiss crouched behind the crate in the warehouse, careful not to make any movements. She was perfectly hidden from sight, but even the smallest sound might be enough to alert the Faunus sitting at the table. She didn't think she could live down screwing up the one part of the mission only she could accomplish.

"Alpha team will hit the banks at noon tomorrow." The White Fang leader said. "Five attacks at once will drive the police into a frenzy. We give it ten minutes for them to scatter then we hit the north side of the prison. We draw the defenders to the front, and then Charlie team's mechs smash through the back. They liberate our prisoners, and then we all retreat, our full fighting force restored. Make no mistake, tomorrow the White Fang will rise again!" The leader shouted to thunderous applause. Weiss had to admit, it was a bold plan. One successful strike could undo the years of effort they had taken to defeat the last remaining vestiges of the White Fang. Fortunately, they would never get the chance to leave this warehouse. Weiss began to back up when a quiet sound from behind her sent a chill racing up her spine. Before she never would have been able to hear it, but these days her hearing was much better. She turned and sprinted away, heart feeling like it was trying to burst through her chest, as a terrifying creature let out a meow while it chased towards her.

Intellectually, Weiss knew she didn't have anything to fear from the cat. Even in this form, her aura still protected her. But that didn't change the fact that her new form retained animal instincts, and a desperate fear of cats was deeply ingrained into mice. She could transform back to human at any time, but if the White Fang noticed her, they might be able to reach the mechs before they were taken down. There was no telling how much damage half a dozen top line Atlas mechs could do if they scattered in the middle of the city. So she scrambled away from the cat, thankful that none of the rest of her team could see her now. She would never be able to live this down if Yang found out.

The cat almost caught her a few times, but she finally got far enough away that she could safely transform. She turned human and pulled her scroll out of her pocket. "I've got it." Weiss said. The words were barely out of her mouth before the warehouse descended into chaos. There were two massive tearing sounds as the walls on either side exploded. Out of one hole jumped a giant wolf, five feet tall with massive gleaming teeth and glowing silver eyes. Out of the other side a panther appeared, taller than a man and growling with such ferocity that it felt like the ground was shaking beneath her. Weiss knew who was behind those masks, and yet the sight still filled her with a primal terror that she had to work hard to suppress. As the two bounded forward and screams and gunshots echoed through the warehouse, the ceiling was ripped into by massive claws before being flung into the air. In its place, a yellow dragon with burning red eyes shot a jet of flame down at the terrified gang members.

The screams grew louder and the gunfire became less frequent as her teammates dealt with the gang members. Weiss simply sighed and bent down to pet the now bewildered cat. Her team would easily mop up the remaining enemies without her help. The first few of these raids she had rushed to join the battle, but by now she didn't really see the point. She stayed with the cat until the sounds of battle disappeared before going and leaving the warehouse. She waited outside until the rest of her team joined her. They were all smiling widely, and Weiss needed to make an effort to keep her annoyance off her face.

"Great job Weiss!" Ruby said as she bounded over towards her. "We couldn't have done it without you!"

"I'm sure you would have managed." Weiss replied.

"No, you're a vital part of the operation. Someone needs to be able to get us information. A mouse is the perfect spy."

"I still don't see why I needed to be the spy when Blake is right there."

"We talked about this, remember? Ozpin said your semblance and summoning was already so versatile you didn't need any help with fighting." Ruby replied. Weiss smiled at her. She still wasn't happy about it, but Ruby always managed to make her feel better.

"Since that's settled, why don't we get some dinner? Some nice juicy steaks, and a platter of cheese for our little spy." Yang asked, trying and failing to sound innocent. The look she sent Weiss gave away exactly what she was trying to do, and just like that Weiss' better mood vanished.

"That would be lovely." Weiss said, hiding her seething rage inside. There was no point in trying anything with Yang when she could easily turn into a dragon and fly away. Weiss was a patient woman. Yang had to sleep eventually, and then she would strike.


	32. The Horrifying Truth

**Prompt: Ruby opens a door and finds herself exposed to a horrifying truth...**

Yang was playing with her scroll on her bed when the door burst open and suddenly another person was lying next to her. The only thing that stopped her from leaping up in alarm was years of living with her sister's semblance. "Hey Rubes." Yang said. Ruby didn't say anything in reply; she instead buried her head into Yang's side, and Yang could feel her start sobbing. Rage like an inferno scorched through her, and it took conscious effort for her to avoid lighting the room on fire. Whoever dared hurt her little sister was in for a world of pain as soon as she coaxed the details out of Ruby.

"What happened, Ruby? Who did this?" Yang asked angrily. Ruby mumbled something that she could barely hear.

"Weiss... cookies... evil..." And with that, her anger vanished. Ruby took her cookies way too seriously. This wouldn't be the first time she'd been reduced to tears after Weiss ate the last cookie or bought the wrong brand from the store. Yang started gently stroking her hair to try and calm her down. She might be upset about something stupid, but it always hurt to see her little sister crying. It took a while, but the sobs gradually stopped and the breathing returned to normal.

"Can you tell me what happened?" She asked. Ruby took her head out from Yang's side and started speaking.

"When I went into the kitchen, Weiss had just finished making cookies, and they looked so good sitting there. I asked her if I could try one, and sh-" Ruby stopped talking as the door burst open again and a clearly annoyed Weiss entered their room.

"There you are! I want an apology right now! It took me hours to make those cookies, and then instead of eating my delicious treat I've spent all this time cleaning up the mess you made when you ruined them!"

"I deserve an apology after what you did!" Ruby snapped back. Yang raised a hand to stop her before her inevitable reply.

"Everybody stop yelling! Ruby, finish the story. Weiss, you can tell your side when she's done." Weiss didn't look happy, but she nodded for Ruby to continue.

"So I picked up what looked like an amazing chocolate chip cookie and took a huge bite out of it only to find out Weiss' horrible lie. It was instead The Great Deceiver oatmeal raisin, and she didn't even warn me!"

"Of course not. I thought you could tell." Weiss replied.

"You can never tell! That's how they get you!" Yang and Ruby said at the same time. Yang shook her head in disbelief. How could Weiss possibly not know that?

"Why would you make those anyway?" Ruby demanded.

"Because they're much better for you than chocolate chip. Plus, they even taste better!" At those words, Yang's blood ran cold. She looked over at Ruby and could tell from the look on her face that she'd recognized the signs too.

"Big Raisin has gotten to her." She said.

"We have to help her escape from them." Ruby replied.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked.

"It's okay, Weiss. None of this is your fault. Just come over here and let us help you."

Weiss took one look at their faces before turning and sprinting out the door. "Don't worry Ruby." Yang said as they started after her. "We'll save her from their influence. By whatever means necessary."


	33. The Dream

**Prompt: Ruby needs to merge with Salem and take over to defeat her once and for all.**

Weiss knew she was procrastinating, and she hated it. She obsessively cleaned her room, finished up her paperwork for next week, played music on her scroll, watched a movie, and read a book. She, in short, did everything in her power to not fall asleep. She knew what would happen when she did. Tonight was the night of The Dream. As she waited, she told herself it wouldn't happen again, that this week would be different. She told herself she had seen it enough, she had _suffered_ enough. She told herself a lot of things, these days.

Finally, she couldn't keep her eyes open. She stopped fighting the inevitable and lay down on her bed. She closed her eyes, hoping this time would be different, and immediately fell into The Dream.

It started off just like she remembered. She was flying towards Salem's fortress with her team. Ruby sat across from her in the Bullhead, looking incredibly nervous while she twirled the sword in her hand. Not that Weiss could blame her. Not only was the entire plan resting on her, but she was also going into battle without her beloved Crescent Rose for the first time. Weiss gave her a reassuring smile. "It'll be okay, Ruby. We'll be covering you the entire time." Ruby smiled back at her.

"I know. I still wish I could help you guys." She looked down to stare at the sword in her hand. "She told me she was created to save the world. I thought she exaggerated until we reached Atlas. She should be here, wearing this thing." She gestured to the backpack sitting in her lap, recovered from Beacon after the Fall. Penny's weapon, with its swords, wires, and the hidden aura transfer machine connected to it all. When activated, anyone touching the swords would have their aura combined with the person wearing it. The design was intended to trap Salem in an inescapable robot prison, but the power of Silver Eyes gave them a better option. If Salem's soul could be temporarily moved from her immortal body, a full powered blast of Silver Eyes would be enough to finally kill her.

"You're right, but you can finish it for her today. Stop Salem from killing anyone else." The whine of the engines increased, and Weiss felt her stomach drop out as they rapidly descended. She felt the soft impact as they hit the ground, and the doors started to slowly open.

"Are you good?" Weiss asked.

Ruby gave her a sad smile and nodded. "I'm combat ready." They stepped out of the Bullhead as the rest of the teams landed behind them. Over a hundred Huntsman, the most dangerous fighting force assembled in a century. All to protect the eight Silver Eyed Warriors who held their only hope of defeating Salem.

 _But that's not what happened in The Dream. In The Dream, her team was alone. There was no backup plan, nobody else to help them. They were the world's only chance._

Their team moved into the giant castle and slowly started moving forward. Weiss stayed by Ruby's side, both to protect her and to make sure she wouldn't waste her energy by joining the fight. Each room was filled with nightmarish Grimm more ferocious than any they had ever fought, but they slowly pushed their way deeper into Salem's fortress.

 _But not in The Dream. Each Grimm they met was a shadow easily defeated with a single blow, and in no time, they reached Salem's inner sanctum._

They finally entered a massive throne room filled wall to wall with the most Grimm she had ever seen in one area. In the back, Weiss saw a small figure who could only be Salem slip off an ornate throne into a back room. She knew this was it, their one chance to finally end this millennium old war. But as she looked at the swarm of Grimm, she realized they weren't up to the task. Nobody could possibly fight through this room before Grimm reinforcements from the rest of the castle came from behind them and tore them apart. Of course, that didn't mean nobody could get through this room. Weiss turned to speak to Ruby but could see from the look in her eyes Ruby already knew what she needed to do.

"It's okay Ruby, just use your semblance to rush through the room. As soon as we clear everything out, we'll be right behind you." The naive girl she first met at Beacon might have believed her, but that was nine years and a dozen tragedies ago. This Ruby knew full well nobody else was going to leave this room alive. She nodded her head and leapt into action, turning into a cloud of petals and speeding towards the door faster than Weiss had ever seen her move. She easily dodged any Grimm that tried to get in her way and shot straight out the door. Weiss watched as her best friend disappeared. Everyone leapt into action as the petals from her passage slowly drifted to the floor. They went into the last fight of their lives, surrounded by the remains of the friend they were sacrificing everything to protect.

The fight was the most terrible of her life. She struggled to survive as she watched her friends slowly fall. Soon only her, Yang, and Jaune remained standing. They were fighting a pair of Deathstalkers when suddenly she heard a loud cry of such anger that, if she hadn't recognized Ruby's voice, she would have assumed was some terrifying new Grimm.

 _Underneath the scream, a child-like giggle of pure happiness._

There was a sudden flash of silver light, and the Grimm all collapsed onto the ground.

 _The room was plunged into sudden darkness, and when it faded the Grimm were kneeling obediently on the floor._

There was the noise of a door opening in back and Ruby appeared, carrying Salem's body. Upon seeing their dead mistress, the Grimm got up and bolted towards the door.

 _As soon as Ruby entered the room, the Grimm stood up and started walking towards the door. Each one held a grotesque smile on their nightmarish faces._

Ruby walked over and dropped Salem's body at their feet. She looked at Weiss for the first time, and Weiss couldn't stop herself from letting out a small gasp. The silver in her eyes was gone, replaced with the same lilac shade as Yang.

 _The silver in her eyes was completely gone, replaced entirely with a deep void of darkness._

"It's over, Weiss. She's dead." The voice hardly sounded like Ruby at all. Her voice was roughened, course, like her final scream damaged something. "It's finally over. We can all go home now."

 _"Help me, Weiss! Help me!" The pleading, panicked tone of Ruby's normal voice contrasted completely with the smug smile on her face. "How could you let her do this to me?"_

And then Weiss shot up in bed, tears falling down her face. Within a few seconds her door burst open and Ruby ran into the room. "Are you okay, Weiss?" She asked. Her eyes were the same void of darkness from The Dream, and Weiss instinctively flinched backwards. Then she blinked, and suddenly Ruby's eyes were their normal lilac. "Did you have that nightmare again?" She asked softly.

Weiss nodded. "Yes."

"You really need to talk to someone about these. I think it would help." Ruby said.

"I'm not so sure about that. I can deal with them on my own." Weiss replied.

Ruby sighed but nodded her head. "Fine, if that's what you want. But you're not getting up yet. Go back to sleep. I'll be right outside if you need anything." Ruby closed the door and walked away.

Weiss closed her eyes, but she knew she wouldn't fall asleep again. She never could, no matter how much she tried. Her mind was always racing with too much fear, and she couldn't feel safe with her partner sitting in the room next to her. Because she knew deep down that Ruby would never let anything bad happen to her. But Salem would, and every time Weiss had The Dream she became less and less sure who truly died that night. But what could she do about it? She could never move against Ruby, not when even the slightest chance that she was wrong still existed. All she could truly do was wait, and watch, and hope.


	34. A Slight Modification

**Prompt: Bumblebee becomes cannon**

Yang stared at the monster standing across from her, rage and fear and pain all jumbled together as they raced through her mind. "Moment of truth, Yang." Adam's voice rang out. "Do you think you're faster than you were at Beacon?" When she heard that, Yang couldn't stop herself from letting out a little gasp as her arm trembled in fear. She may have trained more, but she knew she wasn't faster. If she rushed at him again, she would lose everything. She lowered her arm, unable to stop the shaking.

Adam laughed, arrogant and mocking. "Me neith-" Before he could finish, the ground under him exploded into a hundred pieces of dirt and rock. Adam was immediately thrown violently upward. Yang watched with a grim satisfaction as his body rocketed off into the distance. She honestly wasn't sure if he would survive that fall, but either way he was out of the picture for now. They would be on their way to Atlas long before he could catch up to them.

Yang turned around and walked over to the edge of the cliff as she heard her partner scaling upward. She reached down, grabbed Blake's hand once she got close, and hauled her to safety. "What just happened?" Blake asked. She looked utterly baffled from the past few minutes.

"Oh, that? I had plenty of free time while recovering so I decided to work on a few projects. Like installing a remote activated cannon onto Bumblebee."

"Why would you do that?" Blake asked.

Yang looked at her and shrugged. "Why not?"


	35. Subject One

**Prompt: Ruby finds a list of scrapped weapons research while in Atlas**

As she finally got the file cabinet prized open, Ruby reminded herself that she wasn't technically doing anything wrong. General Ironwood did make it clear that she could use anything she wanted in the lab to redesign Gambol Shroud. Sure, he probably didn't mean to include the locked filing cabinet hidden in the corner, but that was hardly Ruby's fault. Plus, how could she be expected to resist something labeled "experimental weapons research"? It really wouldn't be fair to expect anything other than her immediately digging into those files. And, as she looked through the files, she found idea after idea of the most fascinating and some of the most impractical ideas she'd ever read. Reactive body armor, jetpacks, and magnetic guns were mixed in with things like the human fire extinguisher, a gun that shot other guns, and something called a "clown grenade" that Ruby really wished had more to it than a single piece of paper with "Never Again!" written on the middle. After what must have been a few hours, she got to the final file and felt her heart sink. The file for "Project PENNY" sat on the desk in front of her. Part of her didn't want to read this, but maybe it would provide some of the answers to her friend's past that Ruby desperately wanted to know. She started flipping through technical schematics until she got to the research notes of the head of research. She should have expected the name Dr. Polendina, but reading it still sent a spike through her heart. She gave her pain a second to subside before digging into the files.

Research Note A1: "After all these months of work, it's finally ready. The Penny body is finished, and Ana is being prepped for tomorrow. I know it will work this time. I'm going to get my little girl back. I might not be able to fix her body, but I can salvage her soul."

The next file was a medical file for "Subject One". Anastasia Polendina, 13 years old, who fell into a coma after a severe car accident. Scans revealed that there was minimal brain activity. A doctor's note at the bottom said that there was no realistic chance of recovery.

Research Note A2: "Penny woke up today. She doesn't have any memory of Ana's life, but right now I'm too happy to care. As I sat talking with her, all I could see was Ana. She might not have her memories, but she has her smile, her laugh, her happy outlook. It is my little girl, for all intents and purposes. I'm not going to tell her the truth of what happened. Eventually I will, but right now it's too much to put on her. I've told her that she's a robot I created. She started calling me Father without any prompting, and I almost burst into tears. I'm taking her home as soon as Ironwood lets me. I can't stop him from training her, but in all other ways she's going to be my daughter. Not that I've forgotten about Ana. I'm still taking my lunch with her every day. But now, I can tell her all about her new sister Penny."

Research Note A3: "A miracle happened today. I was finishing my normal lunch with Ana, but this time when I turned to leave, she grabbed my arm! It was just for a second before her arm fell slack again, but it happened! It was so unexpected I would have thought I imagined it if there wasn't footage of her movement. And now, her brain activity has picked up again! If this continues, the doctor says it's almost certain she'll wake up. Penny might be about to meet her sister."

Research Note A4: "She's awake. My little girl, sitting up in her bed and staring at me. It was the most beautiful sight since Penny sat up after her operation. We haven't been able to get her to talk, but she can still communicate through writing. She has all of the memories that Penny lacks. I'm not entirely sure why yet, but it hardly matters. What's important is that I have two lovely daughters to take care of now."

Research Note A5: "The doctors say we can take Ana home today. They were hoping she would speak before releasing her, but it appears the muteness might be permanent. Honestly, it's the least of my worries right now. Ana just doesn't seem to have that same spark as before. She was always so full of life, but now she seems almost numb. Even meeting her new sister didn't seem to give her any excitement. I'm hoping she's still in shock from everything that happened. Once she gets back into a normal routine at home, she'll start to recover."

Research Note A6: "Something weird happened today. Ana wanted to join Penny in combat practice at the base, and I couldn't come up with a reason for not letting her without revealing that Penny is a robot. I thought it would be a little harmless fun, but when Ana finally started it was incredible. The way she was jumping, rolling, and dodging around looked like someone who had fought their entire life, but this was the first time Ana has ever fought anyone. I have no idea where this skill came from, but what I do know is that coming out of the ring Ana had the first smile I've seen on her face since she got home. I don't know why she can fight, but if it makes her happy, I'm not planning on stopping her."

Research Note A7: "I've decided to build Ana something special. If she's going to be training, she needs to have a weapon to call her own. I'm going to model it after that toy she was always running around with. Hopefully that connection to the past will bring back some of the old Ana."

Research Note A8: "Ana has discovered her semblance, and it's led me to a theory for how she woke up. One second, she was sparring with her sister, the next her image was shattering into small pieces as she was revealed standing a few feet away with a smirk on her face. The shattering pieces looked so familiar, but I couldn't place why until the match ended and I got close enough to see her face. Her eyes were changed. Instead of green, I was met with very familiar shades of brown and pink. I'd seen both of them before, on two separate guards who worked at the hospital while Ana was in a coma. But that wasn't the only thing they now had in common with my daughter. Both of them exhibited rather unique semblances. One had the ability to create illusions without any substance while the other could create transparent barriers that shattered when broken. Ana, in addition to getting a mix of their eyes, appeared to now have a mix of their semblances.

Which leads me to my theory. After the procedure, she was a body and a mind left without an aura. What if she started siphoning off the aura of those around her to fill the hole? If her soul was refilled from the soldiers in the military base around her, it might explain her new attitude as well as the combat abilities. The implications of it are fascinating, I'll have to think up a way to test it as soon as possible."

Research Note A9: "There was a training accident between the girls yesterday. When I was called, I almost had a heart attack, but thankfully it wasn't nearly as bad as I first imagined. The injuries would have been lethal to a human, but for Penny it's a few days of repairs before she's good as new. We're still not entirely sure exactly how it happened. Penny is still shut down, and I can't get anything out of Ana. She just stands there and stares at me with a blank look every time I ask anything. I think she might be in shock again, and I can hardly blame her. The guilt from accidentally hurting her sister must be eating her up inside. The only thing I can think of to help is to tell her everything. It's not like we can hide that Penny is a robot from her anymore. Once she understands everything, she'll go back to how she was before. I know it."

The final few pages in the file were different from the rest. They weren't research notes; they were a police report.

Incident Report 09257: "At 0600, Mrs. Polendina arrived home to find her husband unconscious after a violent assault. Dr. Polendina has been moved to Atlas General Hospital and is now in stable condition. He is expected to make a full recovery in time. He hasn't regained consciousness yet to explain what happened, but an investigation of the scene provides substantial evidence that the attacker was Subject One. She was last seen going home with Dr. Polendina, and all attempts to locate her have failed. Specialists teams have been dispatched throughout the city to locate her. She is considered armed and extremely dangerous but capturing her alive is essential to the future of this project. Any expansion of Project PENNY must be suspended until the mental deterioration of Subject One is fully understood. Until such time, Penny is an irreplaceable asset and must be safeguarded at all costs."

The last page of the file was two photographs. One showed the unconscious Dr. Polendina, so bruised and bloodied that Ruby wouldn't have guessed he was still alive if not for the incident report. The second was a picture of what must have been their kitchen. The floor was covered in blood, but the most disturbing part was the wall. It was covered from ceiling to floor with a single word carved into it. ONE, repeated dozens and dozens of times on the wall.

Ruby tossed the file onto the floor in disgust and stormed out of the room. Penny and Neo and everything was too much to take in, but she did know one thing. She was going to find Dr. Polendina, and he was going to answer for what he'd done.


	36. Noises in the Night

**Prompt: Jaune and Ruby hear repeated creaking noises from Ren and Nora's room. Ruby goes to tell them off, and it definitely wasn't what she expected**

 **A/N: A slight NSFW warning for this story. Nothing at all explicit, but there's a little that is suggestive.**

Ruby crept towards the door as quietly as possible. She probably didn't need to sneak, considering how much noise was coming from the room, but she didn't want to chance getting caught right now. Not that she was doing anything wrong. Investigating loud sounds coming from her friends' room late at night made perfect sense. She had raced halfway here before slowing down when the noises went from vague sounds to something more clear. Something she recognized from that video she'd found hidden under Blake's bed that still sometimes haunted her dreams. Part of her had wanted to turn back right then, but some instinct inside her had driven her forward. After all, she knew she must be misinterpreting what she was hearing. It couldn't possibly be what she thought, and the mystery of the truth was too much to pass up. Unless it was what she thought, which she absolutely didn't want to walk in on them doing. And something she definitely, definitely didn't want them to know she'd seen them doing. So she was being as quiet as possible.

She kept moving forward, but it wasn't until she got close to the slightly cracked open door before she could make out any words. Once she could, she froze in place. "Come on, Ren. You can get it deeper." Nora said. Ren replied with a grunt of effort.

"Nora, it's so tight."

"That's why it feels so good. Okay, now slowly move back, and then we'll do it again. There you go, just like that." Nora said. Ruby could hear the pleasure in her voice. She started to very slowly inch closer, fascinated despite herself. They very loudly repeated the process again as she approached until they both gave a relieved sigh.

"Okay, time for a new position. Here, stand like this and watch me." Nora said. She heard shuffling around in the room until she was about a foot away from the door. She could have easily leaned forward to see through the crack, but she suddenly was able to stop herself. Curiosity was still burning inside her, but discomfort was rising to meet it. She realized it wasn't her place to intrude on their privacy. They were both adults and could make decisions for themselves. She wished their decisions weren't so loud, but she had a nice pair of headphones that would block out the sounds nicely. She turned to go, but as she walked away, she stepped in the wrong place and a loud creak echoed through the hall.

"Is someone out there?" Nora asked. Ruby felt herself begin to panic, and she almost sprinted away before a coherent thought forced its way through. Her and Jaune were the only other people in the house. It would be obvious one of them was the one in the hall. Better to face that now, no matter how unpleasant, then wait for an even more awkward conversation later.

"Yeah. I heard noises and wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Of course! Come join us." Nora said. Ruby didn't particularly want to, but she knew she needed to go through with it. She only hoped they were both decent. She walked back to the room, but when she saw them a sense of relief flooded through her. Nora and Ren were both fully clothed, standing on yoga mats a few feet away from each other.

"Sorry. We didn't realize we were being loud." Ren said. Nora nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It's just really nice to get back into our yoga routine after so long on the road. You can feel the tightness melting away. Maybe you should do it with us. Trust me, it'll be great afterward." Ruby quickly shook her head. She wasn't opposed to the idea, but it was the middle of the night. Only Nora would think that was a good time for a workout.

"No, I'm okay. You guys keep going. And don't worry about the noise. I can block it out." Ruby turned and quickly left the room before Nora could find some way to drag her into it. She closed the door behind her and walked away as the sounds resumed, shaking her head. Clearly, she should have known better. Nora was just being Nora. She went back to her room, put her headphones over her ears, and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, as soon as Ruby's footsteps faded, Nora ran over to Ren, grabbed him, and tossed him onto the bed. "Think that worked?" Nora asked as she stripped out of her shirt.

"Absolutely. You're a genius, Nora." Ren said.

"Good. I don't want us to have to hold anything back." Nora shimmied out of her pants and climbed on top of him. "Are you ready, Ren?"

"Yes" Ren replied, and they finally gave in to urges they'd both hidden deep inside for years.


	37. Different Path, Same Destination

**Prompt: Summer adopts an orphaned young Cinder into her family before Salem can find her, showering Cinder with love and kindness**

Ruby ran up the side of the tower, trusting Weiss' semblance to help keep her moving upward. The sounds of an intense battle raged above her, but right before she reached the top, she heard a single cry and it suddenly fell silent. She put on a burst of speed and flew over the edge ready to help Pyrrha fight, but that readiness gave way to relief as she saw the woman in front of her. "Cinder!" She screamed as she launched herself at her sister. She wrapped her arms around her and hugged her as tight as she could. "I was so worried about you! We've been trying to reach you, but you never answered your scroll. What happened?"

"Ruby, get away from her." A voice said quietly behind it. It was clearly laced with an intense pain. Ruby turned and saw Pyrrha for the first time. She was on the ground, an arrow sticking out of her heel. Her worry for her friend returned, and she raced over to her side.

"Pyrrha, what happened? Who did this to you?"

"Cinder. She's working with the Grimm." Pyrrha replied, but Ruby knew she had to be mistaken. She must have lost a lot of blood and was clearly becoming delirious.

"We need to get her help now. Cinder, help me get her down the tower." She moved to pick up Pyrrha, but after a few seconds Cinder still hadn't come over to help. She looked back to see her sister standing still with a look Ruby couldn't understand on her face.

"Move away from her." Cinder said. Ruby noticed for the first time that her bow was in her hand. She more closely at Pyrrha's heel and immediately recognized the arrow. The pieces she'd wanted to deny suddenly fell into place in her mind, and she was hit with a deep pain mixed in with the horrible sensation of betrayal. She stood up and looked her eldest sister straight in the eyes.

"How could you do this?" Ruby asked, her outrage clear in her voice.

"How could I not?" Cinder asked, anger clear in hers. "How could I ever let the man who got Mom killed get away with it? How could I let Ozpin continue grinding people into dust for his war? Dad and Yang and you might be too weak willed to do anything about it, but I'm not. Nothing in this world could have stopped me from avenging our mother."

"What about all the people who are dying right now? All the other families you're ripping apart?"

"Ozpin is a cancer rooted deep in society. You can't cut him out without some collateral damage. They're dying for a worthy cause."

Ruby could barely believe her sister was saying these things. She never thought words could hurt her so deeply. "Mom would be so disappointed in you." Ruby said.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HER!" Cinder screamed back. It was accompanied by a blast of impossibly strong wind that slammed Ruby into the ground so hard it knocked her breath away. It took a few seconds for her to recover, and when she finally looked up, she saw a terrifying sight. Her sister, rage twisting her features and flames surrounding her eyes, holding a drawn bow aimed straight at her heart.

"Are you going to kill me?" Ruby asked. She wished she had been able to keep the fear out of her voice, but she knew Cinder would hear it.

"No." Cinder replied. "Mom did love you. And you're too weak to do anything to stop us." She turned slightly and released the string. Her arrow flew from the bow and connected with the middle of Pyrrha's chest. "She, however, could have been annoying." Ruby stared, stunned, at her murderous sister. Betrayal and outrage and anger surged inside of her, and she knew she needed to release it before it tore her apart. "Pyrrha!" She screamed. She felt her eyes begin to burn, heard her sister give out a final cry, and then the world went white.


	38. The Tragedy

**Prompt: Normally, semblances are unlocked in early teen years or high-stress situations. Tell the story of a character when their semblance was unlocked as a toddler.**

The door flew open, a flash of red culminating in a hug by his youngest daughter as the smell of roses filled the air.

 _A cry of surprise, a flash of white and red, a single scream as it fell from his sight._

"Dad, dad, guess what happened while training!" Ruby cried, joy and excitement filling her voice. Through the open door, he could see a trail of petals leading into the house.

 _Red petals drifting in the wind as he stood still, shocked. The dwindling scream cutting through everything, the panic as he sprinted towards the cliff._

"What is this? Did you discover your semblance, Ruby?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Already dreading the answer. Would the semblance come with the shadows of the memory?

 _He jumped off the cliff after them. He saw them still rolling downward, smashing again and again into the sharp rocks. The occasional flash of red as they tumbled, constantly surrounded by the shield of white._

"It was so cool! Yang went to hit me but then I just disappeared. And I'm so fast now! Isn't that awesome?!"

 _The form finally stopped, laying in the dirt. Running faster than he'd ever run before as the worst thing he could experience stilled the air. Silence. No screams, no cries, no movement. No signs of life._

"Yes, it is. And it fits you so well. Superspeed and a trail of petals for my little rose who's always bouncing around."

 _He reached them. Pristine white, now torn and red. Then, a miracle. Cries from the center. He walked closer and saw her. Their little girl, without a scratch, safe in her mother's arms._

"I wish you could have seen the look on Yang's face after I disappeared! I've never seen her so confused."

 _Shock, confusion, sorrow. How? She wouldn't jump, no one near to push. Then it clicked. The petals falling around him. Like hers, but red. Impossible, yet undeniable. A terrible tragedy, nothing they could have foreseen. Anger, at the world, at the gods, at fate, burned him. Pain was seared deep inside, and it would never come out._

"Let's celebrate tonight. I'll make you something special for dinner. And your favorite for dessert." He watched her eyes light up. She shared his love of strawberry shortcake.

 _He grabbed his daughter, left his wife, started home. He couldn't carry both. He'd be back for her. Climb up, bury her in her favorite spot. Overlooking their island, their house, them. He reached home, and she was playing outside. Ran up, a smile, a question. He paused. The truth was too painful for a little girl. A simple lie, a terrible lie, told to the one person who trusted him completely. An abrupt mission, a quick return. But he couldn't even look her in the eyes. For months, for years, he would never meet her eyes._

Yang ran through the open door, stopping in front of them. "Dad, tell Ruby it's cheating to use a speed semblance in a race!" Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister before blurring over, tapping her on the shoulder, and running away. Yang took off after her as he went to start dinner.

 _It wasn't her fault, she was just a child. But she still did it. He needed time alone to process, to heal. He withdrew. A few days, then a few months, then a few years. The more she looked like her, the more he blamed her. The more he blamed her, the more he hated himself._

Ruby could barely keep her eyes open as she ate. Overusing a semblance did that. She summoned a last burst of energy when she saw the cake, but as soon as she was done, she fell asleep on the table. He gently scooped her up, careful to avoid waking her, and walked upstairs to put her in bed.

 _The simplest thing brought him back. A skinned knee, crying on the ground. The pain on her face, so like her mother's. The rage on Yang's, so like hers. Eyes burning red with fury. Had they always done that? He didn't know. He should. A hug, a caress, a promise. Never again._

He helped Yang clean up and played with her a little before he sent her to bed. He laid down himself and tried to sleep, but when he closed his eyes, his nose was filled with an overwhelming smell. Finally, he gave up, grabbed a broom, and started sweeping up the petals. He knew he wouldn't be able to rest until the scent was gone. His house might be filled with roses, but all he could smell was blood.


	39. The Last Straw

**Prompt: Glynda only asked for a week off each year. The week of the first of April. This is the reason why.**

It started out like any other day, but Ozpin knew it was only a matter of time before everything started falling apart. It was the first of April, and at Beacon that meant any peace was only an illusion of calm before the devastating storm swept through the school. Today he wasn't a headmaster; he was a firefighter, sprinting from one disaster to the next hoping to contain them before they spread and burned everything to ashes. He got to the school grounds and spent the time before the students arrived walking around inspecting everything. He didn't find anything suspicious, but he knew that didn't mean there was nothing there. There were traps hidden somewhere, waiting to explode and make his day miserable.

It didn't take long for the first trap to spring. He was walking down the hallways when he heard screams coming from one of the classrooms. He rushed inside to see what was happening, but he barely managed to get into the room before he felt a disorienting sensation in his stomach. He suddenly shot up into the air and smashed into the ceiling. He looked around to see an entire class of students was stuck to the ceiling with him. A few of them were clearly stifling laughter from their headmaster's forceful arrival, but at least the screams stopped.

"What happened here?" He asked.

"We don't know. We were waiting for class to start when everyone suddenly flew up into the air." One of the students said. He didn't recognize the voice, and he couldn't move his head enough to see who had spoken. He thought about her words as he examined the room. Whatever was causing this was quick enough to surprise an entire room of prospective Huntsman and powerful enough to keep them suspended in the air. It must be still in the room for it to be exerting this much force. He made it around most of the area before he finally found the culprit. Sitting half under one of the desks was a small device with yellow and purple Dust circling in small tubes around it. As annoyed as he was, he couldn't deny that it was a clever little device. The gravity Dust must be keeping them in the air, and somehow it was working with the electric Dust to keep them stuck against the ceiling. Unfortunately, from here he couldn't tell how exactly it worked. There was no possible way for them to get to it and shut it off. That left him with only one option. Normally he would never shoot at charged Dust, but he knew that the device wouldn't explode with any real force. It wouldn't be a prank if it ended with a classroom full of injured students.

He focused his aura and shot a wave at the device. It shattered to pieces under the attack, but as he suspected the Dust was inside harmless. He had about two seconds to appreciate this fact before gravity suddenly returned to the room, and everyone stuck to the ceiling came crashing down. As he got up, he looked around to make sure all his students were uninjured. After confirming they were, he left as the confused students returned to their seats. He returned to his patrol, shaking his head at the experience. He hadn't expected such a sophisticated use of Dust, but he probably shouldn't have been surprised. The pranks had been escalating for years. Something like that was inevitable.

He walked around school the rest of the day, eyes peeled for anything amiss, but there were no other problems. Every second of peace had grown the suspicion inside of him, but he could also hardly complain about nothing happening. Perhaps the first prank was clever enough to satisfy her this year. With the day over, he decided to return to his office and relax a little. He inspected the elevator carefully before he pushed anything, but nothing seemed any different than usual. He pressed the button for his office and began the familiar wait to reach the top.

When the elevator doors opened, Ozpin almost had a heart attack. His usually pristine office was covered floor to ceiling with clocks. Grandfather clocks went halfway to the roof, hanging clocks covered the walls, and the floor was littered with small alarm clocks. In a thousand years, he'd never seen a room with even half that many clocks. He wasn't sure how someone could even find this many, let alone bring them into his office without him noticing. Getting rid of them would be a pain, but compared to what he'd dealt with today, it wasn't so bad.

He regretted that thought as soon as he took a step forward. He had to cover his ears as a cacophony of noise drove him to his knees. Every single clock in the office started blaring an alarm at the exact same time. The sound was so loud it felt like a physical wave crashing into him, and he was certain that without his aura, it would have blown out his eardrums. He slowly rose to his feet, fighting against the intense noise, and managed to stumble over to the nearest clock. He slapped it with his hand, and the alarm ringing on it stopped. It was a tiny drop in the ocean rolling around his office, but it gave him enough energy to reach the next one and repeat the process. The noise slowly reduced from excruciating to merely painful to annoying until it finally fell into a blissful silence. He practically fainted into his chair before pulling out his scroll and pressing a few buttons. This was over the line, and he knew he needed to finally have the talk with her that he'd been avoiding for a while.

Within a minute, the elevator doors opened and Glynda strolled into his office. The only possible way to reach him this fast was if she had been waiting right outside his door, and the realization that she was able to predict him so well filled him with a mixture of pride and utter annoyance. An incredibly useful ability for a second in command, an incredibly annoying one for a prolific prankster. "Did you need something, Ozpin?" She asked, entirely innocently.

"Don't." He snapped back. Normally he enjoyed verbal sparring like that, but he wasn't in the mood for games. "It's too much, Glynda. I was willing to overlook the occasional prank for April Fool's day, but you've taken it too far. I spent the entire day watching out for your disruptions. What if something vital happened that needed my attention, and I was too busy running around to notice?" Glynda's face fell at his harsh words. It was clear she'd never fully thought about all the potential consequences of her actions.

"You're right. I went a little overboard, but I can't help myself. April Fool's day is the one day a year I get to relax. I can't give it up." Ozpin suspected that would be her answer. Fortunately, he'd already prepared a solution.

"Then from now on, you're taking a vacation for this entire week. Go wherever you want, do whatever you want. As long as it's far, far away from Beacon."

"Okay, I can work with that. Is there anything else?" Ozpin glanced around his office at all the clocks. He could tell her to clean them all up, but the day wasn't over yet. There was no way to know if she'd prepared a plan for that possibility. It would be a pain to do it himself, but at this point it wasn't worth the risk.

"No, that's it." Glynda turned away and left his office. Ozpin sighed in relief as she walked out the door. She took that fairly well, all things considered. Glynda was an incredibly accomplished right hand and a close friend, but there was only so much a man could take. This was the best solution for everyone. Sure, maybe Glynda would just terrorize somewhere else, but that wasn't his problem. He leaned back in his chair, grabbed his favorite cup, and sipped on the simmering hot chocolate inside it. After a tense day, it was the perfect way to relax.

*bzzrt*! His desk suddenly vibrated, and he almost tipped over backwards in his chair in alarm and burned himself on his delicious treat. After he recovered, he looked over everything on his desk but found nothing that could make that noise. In pure exasperation, he swept the surface of his desk clean, ignoring the shattering sounds of mementos with years' worth of cherished memories behind them being permanently destroyed. He waited, holding his breath, but nothing happened.

Nothing until another *bzzrt* almost made him jump out of his skin. He'd been prepared for it, but somehow that hadn't helped at all. After everything he'd dealt with today, he just snapped. There was one quick way to end the noise. He took his cane and started slamming it into his favorite desk, breaking off pieces with each blow. He would stop when he found whatever was producing that infernal noise.

And if he occasionally imagined Glynda's face on the desk beneath the cane, well, nobody could reasonably blame him.


	40. The Train Story

**Prompt: Yang is distracted in her Neo fight by how smol/cute she is**

We stopped short as a young woman stepped out in front of us. She was short, impeccably dressed, and so confidently holding her umbrella in front of her that I knew it contained some kind of weapon. I recognized her as the one who helped Roman escape after we destroyed his Paladin. Neo, he called her. She faced us without a word, a smug grin on her face and a confident look in her eyes. I smiled as I realized this was the perfect opportunity for some fun. Her quick escape had been very impressive, and I couldn't wait to play around with her some more. Solely because I wanted to how she fought, obviously. Her being incredibly cute was just a coincidence. "This one's mine." I said. I shot a few rounds at her, and as she dodged them Weiss and Blake ran past her to continue onto the front of the train. As soon as they were past I shot forward, raising my right arm to strike. She flipped backwards to get out of my range, and ended up seated perfectly on a crate, her umbrella folded neatly on her lap. She stood up and bowed to me. Skilled, confident, and cute. An excellent combination that couldn't have been more attractive. Fighting her would be a blast, but I quickly came up with an alternative and potentially much more fun way to deal with her.

"Have you ever thought about giving up this criminal life? We could go back to Vale, maybe get a few drinks, see what happens." Neo's face remained impassive, but I saw her eyes glance downward for a fraction of a second before returning to my face. An excellent start, I thought. This might be easier than I had hoped.

I lunged forward and threw a right cross at her, but it was a fake. I stopped short as she ducked under it, and my unseen left hand latched onto her wrist with an iron grip. For the first time, her smug expression vanished as her eyes filled with panic from realizing how vulnerable she was. She probably expected me to toss her around or smash her into the ground or lay into her with my right hand. Instead, I pulled her close and grabbed her back with my other hand. I slipped my left hand down her arm until I was holding her hand and loosened my grip to something more tender.

"I can see you're graceful. I bet you're an amazing dancer. How about we try that instead?" Neo looked shocked and uncertain at her new circumstances, and I gave her a reassuring smile. I honestly expected her to either go with it or try and pull away.

What I didn't expect was for her to sweep her legs under mine. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, but before I could move Neo pounced on top of me. Her arms pinned me to the ground, and her legs were straddling my chest. She was still small and light; I could have pushed her off fairly easily, even with the leverage she had over me. But why would I want to when things were going so well? I met her eyes, and they burned with a fire I'd seen many, many times before. The fires of unbridled passion and desire, a feeling so intense it escaped all attempts at reason. It's why, on a train filled with bombs hurtling down the tracks towards Vale, my supposed enemy suddenly leaned down and kissed me. It's why, instead of taking advantage of her distraction to subdue her, I kissed her back. A long, passionate kiss that ignited my feelings so much my hair started to burn a little. I gave a growl, flipped over, and suddenly Neo was beneath me.

She was so small and so beautiful there that I couldn't help but go in for another kiss. We stayed locked together like that, sharing a blissful unending moment, until the car suddenly lurched around us. We bounced off the floor and flew towards the side. I had a second of warning, just enough to realize I was so distracted I let my aura go down, before my head smashed straight into the solid steel of the car's wall.

I lost consciousness for a few seconds, and when I came to my vision was blurry and a concerned Neo was standing over me. I could feel the wound at the back of my head slowly dripping blood. "Neo, go get some help." I said weakly. She nodded, determination in her eyes, and sprinted into another car to go find a medic. I slowly slumped to the floor, and as I laid there I reflected on what a good choice it was to turn Neo from a deadly opponent into a passionate lover an-

"Bullshit!" Blake said, interrupting Yang right before she finished her story. "You're making this entire thing up."

"You saw my wounds, didn't you? Why would I lie about how I got them?" Yang asked. She was trying for indignant outrage, but she wasn't doing a great job.

"Because you want to excuse getting your ass handed to you by a little girl. And you want to make a certain someone jealous." Blake said, casting her eyes at Weiss.

"Yang can get with whoever she wants. I don't care." Weiss said, but her blush betrayed her lying. "Plus, in what way could I ever be jealous of _her_?"

"She's better dressed than you." Blake said. "Plus, she was bigger."

"Are you blind? There's no way that woman was taller..." Weiss trailed off as she realized what Blake meant. Her face flushed redder, this time with fury, and Ruby had half a second to grab her partner before Weiss attempted to lunge at Blake. Ruby managed to stop her, but she wouldn't have hit Blake anyway as the image of her sitting dissolved into shadows to reveal her standing by the door. She laughed and fled before Weiss could regain her feet.

"There, there Weiss." Ruby said, patting her on the shoulder. "Size isn't everything. You're plenty beautiful even without them."

"Thanks Ruby." Weiss said, but her clenched teeth revealed how ineffective her words were at being comforting. She stood up and walked to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to kill an irritating cat."


	41. Weiss' Diary

**Prompt: Ruby snoops and reads Weiss' diary. Turns out she had some choice words for her partner during their first days at Beacon.**

Ruby was about to do something very, very bad, and the worst part was that she knew she couldn't stop herself. She'd seen Weiss scribbling away furiously in her diary ever since they became teammates, but she'd never once sneaked a peek at it. Months and months of wondering how her partner truly thought about life, but she'd always resisted her burning curiosity. That had been much, much easier when Weiss tucked her diary under her bed every time she left the room. Not today, though. Today she was in such a rush to leave, she'd raced out of here as soon as she woke up, leaving her diary, cover open, sitting on her pillow. Ruby desperately wished she hadn't seen it, but there was no putting that back in the bag. She'd frozen as soon as she noticed it out of the corner of her eye, and she hadn't moved since. She knew that if she did, the only place she would go was straight to the diary.

"Go on. You know you want to read it." Blake said. It didn't help that she was in the room and not Yang. Yang would have urged her to respect Weiss' privacy, but Blake was over on her bed playing Bad Angel without anyone to counter her. All that was on Weiss' side was Ruby's willpower, and that wasn't going to last very long. The only real question was whether she could sustain her resolve long enough for their teammates to return to the room.

Five minutes later, the question got answered. She heard Blake's satisfied laugh as she rushed over to Weiss' bed and grabbed the diary. Blake walked over the room towards her as Ruby flipped to the first page. It was dated the first night after they returned from the Emerald Forest.

 _Right now, I just need to relax_

 _Understanding my new situation is the key to fixing it_

 _But try as I might, I can't stop my mind racing_

 _Yesterday I knew where my life was going_

 _Surely I would lead the best team, but now?_

 _Unless something drastic changes, that plan is gone_

 _Can I fix this before everything goes wrong?_

 _Knocking Ruby down and taking her place is first._

 _So I must convince Ozpin to change his mind._

She'd known Weiss wasn't exactly thrilled that she wasn't chosen as team leader but reading her direct thoughts about it still hurt a little. She shook that off and moved on to the next page. It was from a few days after they started classes at Beacon.

 _I'm still getting used to Ruby as our leader_

 _She isn't at all what I would expect_

 _Here's an example that happened yesterday_

 _On the way to class, she tripped and fell_

 _Under Ozpin's nose, too!_

 _Like, how can a Huntress be clumsy?_

 _Don't even get me started on her class work_

 _Barely studies at all!_

 _Everyone on the team follows her lead too_

 _Leaders should inspire excellence, not delinquency_

 _Even if she's young, she should set an example!_

 _Although, she's not all bad_

 _Doltish at times, sure, but talented too_

 _Even at her lowest, she's brave, loyal, kind_

 _Ruby isn't perfect, but I guess I could do worse!_

 _!_

"Wow, she thought pretty lowly of you, didn't she?" Blake asked. Ruby shook her head.

"No. Sure, she insulted me a little, but she was still pretty nice at the end!" Blake laughed, and Ruby got the distinct impression she was missing something obvious.

"Was she? Maybe read it a bit more closely this time. The writing doesn't sound much like Weiss, does it? Perhaps there's a reason for that." Ruby turned back and stared at the words on the page. Blake was right, they were a little stilted and decidedly un-Weiss like, but she couldn't figure out any reason why.

"I don't get it." She said. Blake's exasperation came through in her heavy sigh.

"Read down, not across." Ruby looked at the page for a few more seconds before it suddenly hit her. She read it and her heart fell. It turns out Weiss wasn't just unhappy with her partner and with not being leader, but she also thought so little of Ruby that she'd prepared fake diary pages in case Ruby invaded her privacy. That assumption, that Ruby would obviously look at Weiss' private thoughts, hurt. Sure, she _was_ snooping on Weiss, but she'd refrained from it for months. That must count for something, right?

"I knew she didn't like me at first, but I guess it was even worse than I thought." Ruby said dejectedly. Blake seemed to notice her mood shift, and she sat down next to her and took a serious tone for the first time.

"Weiss doesn't like anyone at first. It was hardly just you, Ruby. I'm sure if you read the newer entries, they would show you how Weiss feels now." Ruby was tempted, but she shook her head and put down the book. She'd had enough of reading someone else's private thoughts. Next time she wanted to know, she would just ask.

"Seems she was more than a little right. What kind of person am I that I couldn't stop myself from reading her private diary?"

"It was a moment of weakness, Ruby. It happens to everyone." Blake smiled at her, and it made Ruby feel much better about herself. Blake was right. She'd made a mistake, but she would apologize to Weiss later and make it right. She shot a rueful grin back at Blake.

"A moment you didn't exactly help." Blake shrugged nonchalantly.

"What can I say? I like reading, and Weiss' was next on the list. I figured it'd be at least as juicy as Yang's, and hers is always good entertainment." Ruby looked at her in shock, and Blake laughed again.

"I'm kidding, obviously." Blake walked to the door and winked at her. "Yours is much more interesting." The door slammed shut before Ruby could respond, and all Ruby could hear was Blake's ringing laughter as she ran away.


	42. Chameleon in the Crosshairs

**Prompt: Rewrite the ending of a previously written story**

 **This is an alternate continuation of "Ilia's First Date". Only the ending is changed so if all you want is to read the new stuff skip to the dividing line.**

As they approached the bar, Ilia's anxiety continued to grow. By the time they reached the entrance, she knew she couldn't do this tonight. "This isn't a good idea." She said. She began to back up, but before she got more than a few steps a hand clamped down on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Ilia, what did I tell you?" Neptune asked. His voice was compassionate, but it was also firm. He clearly had no intention of letting her leave without going inside.

"That I'm a good person, and I deserve to be happy." She had lost track of how many times Neptune and Sun had said that to her. It was, much like the pair who wouldn't stop saying it, utterly ridiculous and yet inexplicably endearing. It was how they had convinced her to follow them to Shade, enroll in the Academy, and follow Neptune to the bar.

"Exactly. And part of being happy is finding you love." Neptune said.

"Yes, you told me that this morning. I didn't think you meant you were bringing me to a dive bar. How am I supposed to find love in here?"

"You aren't. Love is a difficult thing to find, and you need to be prepared. First, we need to give you some confidence. That's what tonight is about."

"How so?" She asked.

"You're going to go find the hottest woman in there, go back to her place, and go at it until you both pass out from exhaustion."

"Neptune!" He took one look at the shock on her face and started laughing.

"Or just give her a kiss. Whatever you're most comfortable with. But you've got to start somewhere." Ilia sighed. Neptune probably had a point. She was almost 20 but still hadn't kissed anyone yet. Blake had been her first crush, and Ilia hadn't let the hole her departure left heal until Blake saved her in Menagerie. It was beyond time for her to do something about it. She nodded to Neptune, and they both walked into the building. It was fairly crowded, and the two went to sit at one corner of the bar.

"Try to find a woman sitting by herself. You're not ready to approach a group." Neptune said. He ordered two drinks as Ilia looked around. There were only a handful of women she could see, and she tried to figure out which one she would feel most comfortable approaching. It took her a while to decide on one. She was sitting alone at a booth nursing a mostly empty drink wearing a cute black jacket with a stylish beret over long brown hair. There was a gentle look on her face that made her seem more approachable than anyone else there.

"At the booth." Ilia said. Neptune shot a covert glance over at her.

"Good choice. Now go over there and offer to buy her a drink."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ilia asked hesitantly. Neptune looked over and met her eyes.

"Nope, but there's only one way to find out. Just be confident in yourself." He gestured, and she reluctantly got up and walked over to the woman. She sat down at the seat across from her.

"Hey b-beautiful, can I buy you a drink?" Ilia asked. And then she immediately regretted it. Even if she hadn't stumbled over the words, she doubted that could have been more awkward. The woman looked over at her and sighed.

"Don't get me wrong, you're cute. But this is only going to end one possible way. You're going to get angry, yell at me, and storm away. Let's just skip to the end and save us both some drama." The woman said. Ilia felt embarrassment flush her face as the woman turned back to staring at her drink. She got up and turned to leave, but then she saw Neptune giving her a disapproving look. And she knew he was right. She shouldn't give up this easily. Plus, she had to admit her heart had skipped a little at being called cute.

"I think I should be the one to decide my reaction. I'm willing to take that chance."

"Fine, but I did warn you." The woman said. Her voice was a little resigned, but she did give her a small smile. Ilia decided to take that as an encouraging sign.

"So, uh, do you come here often?" Ilia asked.

"Yes." The woman said. And then took another sip and said nothing else. Ilia panicked for a second before coming up with something Neptune had said on the walk here. Compliments always work.

"I like your hat." Ilia said the first thing that came to mind before blushing as she realized how lame that sounded. The woman, however, just laughed.

"New at this, I take it?" Ilia nodded. "Why don't you start with a name?"

"Oh, right. I'm Ilia."

"Velvet. So, Ilia, what brings you to Shade?" Velvet asked.

"I enrolled in the academy this morning."

"Oh. Well maybe I'll see you around occasionally." Velvet gave a wry smile. "Not that my team spends much time there anymore."

"You're a Huntress?"

"Might as well be these days. Lots of work and not enough hands to do them. Upper year students are essentially Huntsman without badges."

"Can you tell me a little about it here?" Ilia asked. Velvet nodded and began telling her all about Shade. Ilia mostly sat there and listened. On the way here she had feared that this would be incredibly awkward but talking to Velvet was easy. There was something about the woman that Ilia found incredibly relaxing.

"Why did you want to become a Huntress?" Velvet asked once she finished.

Images passed through her mind. Sun collapsing to the ground after she stabbed him, Ghira holding that beam above her head to stop her from being crushed, Blake smiling at her. "For my past. To make up for what I've done, for what I tried to do." She said. She was worried Velvet might question her about that, but she let it pass without comment. "What about you?"

"A childhood dream. When I was young, a Huntress came to our village for a few months. She was the coolest person I had ever met. I wanted to be just like her. I'm sure it would have faded after she left if my village had left it alone. But when I told people my dream, they told me to give it up. They said that I couldn't be strong enough, that I couldn't be brave enough. They told me being a warrior wasn't in my nature. So I proved them wrong." Ilia would have felt bad for Velvet if not for the obvious pride in her voice. She was going to reply, but she stopped herself before anything came out. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the phrasing on that last quote bothered her.

"It wasn't in your nature?" She asked.

* * *

Before Velvet could reply, a woman came up to their table and slid down into the seat next to Velvet. She was stylishly dressed, with sunglasses covering her eyes and a matching beret to Velvet's adorning her short hair. "Hey babe. Sorry it took so long, but you know how Fox gets sometimes. Who's this adorable little thing?" She turned her gaze to Ilia, and even though her eyes were hidden under the sunglasses, she could somehow feel the intensity of her gaze. She felt herself start to sweat nervously as she tried to clamp down on the rising panic inside her. One hot girl was nerve-wracking enough, but two was way above her limit. Especially when one of them was looking at her with an expression that could only accurately be described as "hungry".

"Ilia. She's cute, but it's her first time, Coco, so be gentle."

"Ilia, huh? Where exactly do you get the nerve to hit on my girlfriend?" Coco demanded. Ilia's heart fell and she wished she could simply sink into the floor. Of course Velvet had to have a girlfriend. She began to turn red as she tried to think of the most diplomatic way to leave this situation and go bury herself in a hole for eternity.

"I, uh, well, didn't know, um." She stammered. Coco laughed.

"You're right Vel, she is cute." The embarrassment and panic had turned into confusion at Coco's amusement. The night had taken such a weird turn she couldn't manage to get her bearings on anything.

"What's going on here?" Ilia asked.

Coco pushed her sunglasses down slightly and winked at her "The best night of your life." There was such certainty in her voice that Ilia couldn't help but believe her. "And if you play your cards right, the first of many." She stood up, walked over to the other side of the table, swung her arm around Ilia's waist and started pulling her up and towards the door. She had just enough time to look back at the bar to see a smirking Neptune give her a thumbs up before they were out the door and walking down the street. Velvet came and wrapped her arm around Ilia's other side, and any hesitation she was still feeling vanished between the arms of two attractive women. It was clear she had somehow managed to do exactly what Neptune had planned. She still wasn't entirely sure how it had worked out this way, but she decided she was very glad Neptune dragged her out to that bar.


End file.
